Pharmacokinetic Interaction Between Rosuvastatin and Telmisartan in Healthy Korean Male Volunteers: A Randomized,Open-label,Two-period,Crossover, Multiple-dose Study

Purpose

Rosuvastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, and telmisartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker, are commonly prescribed in combination for the treatment of dyslipidemia accompanied by hypertension. However, the nature of the pharmacokinetic interaction between the 2 drugs is not clearly understood. The goal of the present study was to investigate the pharmacokinetic drug–drug interaction between rosuvastatin and telmisartan in a healthy Korean population.

Methods

This was a randomized, 2-part, open-label, 2-period, crossover, multiple-dose study, with each part composed of different subjects between the ages of 20 and 55 years. In part 1, each subject received rosuvastatin 20 mg with and without telmisartan 80 mg once daily for 6 consecutive days. In part 2, each subject received telmisartan 80 mg with and without rosuvastatin 20 mg once daily for 6 consecutive days. In both parts, there was a 16-day washout period between mono- and coadministration. Blood samples were collected up to 72 hours after the last dose. Adverse events (AEs) were evaluated through interviews and physical examinations.

Findings

In part 1, the 90% CIs of the geometric mean ratios for the primary pharmacokinetic parameters for coadministration of the 2 drugs to monoadministration of each drug were 1.0736–1.2932 for AUC_τ and 1.7442–2.3229 for C_max,ss for rosuvastatin and 0.9942–1.1594 for AUC_τ and 1.3593–1.7169 for C_max,ss for N-desmethyl rosuvastatin, whereas in part 2, the CIs were 1.0834–1.2672 for AUC_τ and 1.1534–1.5803 for C_max,ss for telmisartan. The most frequently noted AE was cough in part 1, which occurred in 2 subjects receiving the combination therapy, and oropharyngeal pain in part 2, which occurred in 3 subjects receiving the combination therapy. All reported AEs were mild or moderate, and there was no significant difference in incidence between the treatments.

Implications

These findings demonstrated that rosuvastatin and telmisartan mutually affected each other’s pharmacokinetics, suggesting a possibility of drug–drug interaction. However, based on dose–response characteristics of the 2 drugs and previous results from other interaction studies, the degree of drug interaction observed in this study was not regarded as clinically significant. All treatments were well tolerated, with no serious AEs observed. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01992601.