Effect of meal timing not critical for the pharmacokinetics of tegaserod (HTF 919)

This study assessed the pharmacokinetic profiles of administering tegaserod (HTF 919) at different time intervals with respect to a meal. If was a ran domized, open-label, two-phase, five-period crossover study. In the first p hase, 18 healthy subjects received a single 12 mg oral dose of tegaserod ad ministered either 30 or 15 minutes prior to the start of the 600-calorie, f at-rich breakfast. In the second phase, subjects received a single 12 mg or al dose of tegaserod 1 minute before, 2.5 hours after the start of meal, or with a continued 4-hour postdose fast. Safety assessment and plasma sample s for the determination of drug concentration were obtained for 24 hours po stdose. Noncompartmental analysis results indicated that the AUC of tegaser od was reduced by almost half under fed conditions compared to the fasted c ondition. Exploratory analyses were implemented to further investigate the absorption characteristics of tegaserod under different fed conditions. A n umerical deconvolution approach was used to obtain the tegaserod oral absor ption versus time profiles under both fasted and fed conditions. The tegase rod oral absorption versus time profiles were then fitted by NONMEM to a mo del containing two absorption phases. Based on the absorption analyses, we found that the reduction in the bioavailability of tegaserod under fed cond itions was primarily due to a decrease in the extent of absorption and less so to a decrease in the absorption rate(s). Therefore, although the timing of administration of food does not appear to significantly alter the pharm acokinetics of tegaserod, the administration of food reduces the AUC by app roximately 50%. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 1999;39:911-919 (C) 1999 the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.