Effect of food intake on plasma levels and antihypertensive response during maintenance therapy with endralazine

Abstract

A sensitive HPLC assay has been used to determine the effect of food on plasma endralazine levels in 8 patients with essential hypertension. Subjects were investigated whilst on maintenance therapy with endralazine combined with a fixed antihypertensive baseline treatment for at least 4 weeks, samples being collected after the usual oral morning dose of endralazine (5 mg and 10 mg), on two occasions at least 7 days apart. Endralazine was administered with the concomitant therapy in randomised order once 90 min before and once immediately after a standard breakfast. Acetylator status did not affect its pharmacokinetics in the postprandial study after a 5 mg dose, the peak endralazine concentration averaged 57.5% lower and the AUC had fallen significantly by 49.9%, whereas after 10 mg the postprandial peak level and the AUC were 82.9% and 64.7%, lower. In the 5 mg study the mean arterial blood pressure was decreased by 30 mm Hg in the fasting subjects and by 21 mm Hg in the postprandial group. For the 10 mg dose the corresponding values were 35 and 24 mm Hg. The blood pressure lowering effect was only weakly correlated with the food--related reduction in the plasma endralazine levels. The results suggest that endralazine has a similar kinetic interaction with food as that found for hydralazine.