The effect of antacid and ranitidine on droxicam pharmacokinetics

Droxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is a pro-drug of piroxicam. The influence of concomitant administration of antacid or ranitidine on droxicam pharmacokinetics has been investigated. On three separate phases, 15 healthy volunteers received a single oral 20-mg dose of droxicam either alone, with antacid (400 mg aluminum hydroxide + 400 mg magnesium hydroxide, three times/day), or with ranitidine (300 mg, two times/day) for 6 days. Piroxicam, the active substance from droxicam, was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The pharmacokinetic parameters for droxicam given alone were: maximum peak plasma concentration (Cmax) = 1.53 +/- .21 micrograms/mL (mean +/- SD), time to peak concentration (Tmax) = 7.5 +/- 2.1 hr, t1/2a = 1.38 +/- .82 hour, t1/2el = 53.3 +/- 11.9 hr, Cl/F = 2.98 +/- .71 mL/min, volume of distribution (Vd/F) = 13.2 +/- 1.8 L and area under the curve (AUC) = 117.6 +/- 26.8 micrograms/hour/mL. The subject effect was significant for all the pharmacokinetic parameters except for the absorption half-life (P < .05). Concomitant antacid or ranitidine administration had no significant effect on any of the droxicam pharmacokinetic parameters. The results of this study suggest that antacid or ranitidine do not significantly alter the oral absorption or pharmacokinetic disposition of single-dose droxicam.