EFFECT OF FOOD ON PRAVASTATIN PHARMACOKINETICS AND PHARMACODYNAMICS

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of pravastatin 20 mg adminis tered twice daily when taken with or one hour before meals were evalua ted in 24 hypercholesterolemic men in an 8-week, open-label, randomize d, two-way crossover study. The bioavailability of pravastatin was red uced significantly (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.001) when it was taken w ith meals (AUC dropped 31% and C(max) dropped 49%), and mean T(max) in creased 50% (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.01). The mean elimination t1/2 was unaffected by taking pravastatin with food. However, reductions in mean total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were i dentical whether pravastatin was given with or before meals. In both t reatment groups, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholest erol were significantly reduced from baseline (p <0.001). These result s indicate that although the bioavailability of pravastatin is reduced when taken with meals, the lipid-lowering efficacy of pravastatin is not altered. It can be concluded that pravastatin can be ingested with out regard to meal time.