Drug-drug interaction between valproic acid and meropenem: a retrospective analysis of electronic medical records from neurosurgery inpatients.
OBJECTIVE
A series of studies have indicated that valproic acid (VPA) plasma concentration decreased rapidly when used concomitantly with carbapenem antibiotics, including meropenem (MEPM), imipenem and panipenem, which may increase the risk of seizure breakthrough. However, the cause for the change in VPA pharmacokinetics is unclear. A retrospective analysis of VPA therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) records was performed to investigate this VPA pharmacokinetics drug-drug interaction.


METHODS
Three hundred and eighty one VPA TDM records from the Department of Neurosurgery of Xiangya Hospital from January 2012 to December 2014 were collected. The VPA TDM records were categorized by VPA and MEPM daily dosages in grams/day (g/day). A comparison of VPA plasma levels among different groups was performed to investigate the change in VPA level in this drug interaction.


CONCLUSIONS
Remarkable decreases in VPA plasma level were observed when the drug was used concomitantly with MEPM in both 1.2 g/d and 1.6 g/d VPA groups (67·3 ± 4·6 μg/mL, n = 21 vs. 15·3 ± 1·9 μg/mL, n = 15, P < 0·001; 67·6 ± 1·2 μg/mL vs. 18·1 ± 2·6 μg/mL, n = 38, P < 0·001). No significant difference in VPA plasma concentrations was observed between the 1·2 g/day VPA + MEPM, 1·6 g/day VPA + MEPM and 2·0 g/day VPA + MEPM groups (15·3 ± 1·9 μg/mL, n = 15 vs. 18·1 ± 2·6 μg/mL, n = 38 vs. 9·0 ± 3·0 μg/mL, n = 7; P = 0·252). The decrease in VPA concentration was independent of MEPM daily dose (14·0 ± 5·1 μg/mL, n = 4 for high MEPM daily dose vs. 16·5 ± 1·9 μg/mL, n = 56 for low MEPM daily dose; P = 0·729). After discontinuation of MEPM for more than 7 days, VPA plasma concentration recovered to a value comparable to that before MPEM initiation (69·7 ± 4·2 μg/mL, n = 21 vs. 51·2 ± 8·1 μg/mL, n = 9; P = 0·48).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study using a large number of VPA TDM records to investigate the change in VPA levels caused by concomitant use of MEPM. Our results imply that the decrease in drug concentration cannot be reversed by increasing VPA dose. Moreover, MEPM daily dose did not influence the drop in VPA plasma level. At least 7 days are required for the recovery of VPA plasma concentration after discontinuation of MEPM.
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, China.
Z-P
ZP
Wen
Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
S-S
SS
Fan
Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
C
C
Du
Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
T
T
Yin
Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
B-T
BT
Zhou
Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Z-F
ZF
Peng
Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Y-Y
YY
Xie
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, China.
W
W
Zhang
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Y
Y
Chen
Department of Pharmacy, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
J
J
Xiao
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Hunan Key Laboratory of Pharmacogenetics, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.|Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, China.
X-P
XP
Chen
D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D000077731:Meropenem; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013845:Thienamycins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014635:Valproic Acid / Q000097:blood*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013845:Thienamycins; D014635:Valproic Acid; D000077731:Meropenem
drug interaction; meropenem; therapeutic drug monitoring; valproic acid