Prolonged pharmacokinetic drug interaction between terbinafine and amitriptyline

Drugs with long terminal half-lives, such as terbinafine, have a potential for involvement in both long-lasting drug-drug interactions and interactions appearing weeks after discontinuation. We present a case report on a 37-year-old white woman with normal CYP2D6 metabolic capacity who was treated with amitriptyline, valproate, and olanzapine when terbinafine was introduced. Shortly thereafter she experienced extreme dryness of the mouth, nausea, and dizziness accompanied by a large increase in the serum concentrations of amitriptyline and nortriptyline. Terbinafine therapy was discontinued, and the amitriptyline dose was reduced. Surprisingly, the serum concentrations of amitriptyline and nortriptyline did not return to baseline until approximately 6 months later. Studies have shown that terbinafine is a highly potent competitive inhibitor of CYP2D6. CYP2D6 is an important intermediate enzyme in metabolism of amitriptyline to nortriptyline. Nortriptyline is further metabolized to 10-hydroxy metabolites, mainly by CYP2D6. It is, therefore, likely that the concomitant use of terbinafine was the major cause of the increased serum concentrations of amitriptyline and nortriptyline. Very different terbinafine elimination half-lives (17-400 hours) are stated in the physicians' reference guides. If the shortest estimates are used when adjusting the dose of interacting drugs, the risk of underestimating the duration of the interaction is large. Based on our data there is a risk of clinically significant drug-drug interactions for at least 3 months after stopping terbinafine intake.