title: Interaction of clarithromycin with cyclosporine in cats: pharmacokinetic study and case report.
abstract: Clarithromycin (CLM) has been known to increase the cyclosporine (CsA) trough levels in human transplant patients. However, the interaction of CLM with CsA has not been reported in cats. In this study, the effects of oral dosing of CLM on the pharmacokinetics and dosing of CsA in cats were investigated. Co-administration of CLM with CsA resulted in significant increases of oral bioavailability of CsA. In addition, CLM reduced the CsA dosage required to maintain the therapeutic CsA trough levels to almost 35% of the initial CsA therapy and the dose frequency was successfully replaced from a twice a day schedule to once a day in a feline kidney transplant patient. The addition of CLM to the regular CsA-based immunosuppression could be used as an effective alternative to classical ketoconazole treatment in feline kidney transplant patients and may result in substantial cost saving and convenience for the cat owners.
authors.affiliation: Division of Small Animal Surgery, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate, Japan. masaaki@iwate-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishijima
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Rieko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Testuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamishina
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uzuka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D002415:Cats; D017291:Clarithromycin / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine; D017291:Clarithromycin