Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Quantification of the Immunosuppressant Tacrolimus on Dried Blood Spots Using LC-MS/MS
Published on: November 8, 2015
Preliminary study of interaction of clarithromycin with tacrolimus in cats
Masaaki Katayama1, Taku Ushio, Shunsuke Shimamura
1Division of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging, Cooperative Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate 020-8550, Japan.
Abstract:
Tacrolimus (Tac) is a core immunosuppressive drug in human organ transplantation. In feline kidney transplantation, however, the cost of Tac therapy is a significant obstacle. Clarithromycin (CLM) increases the blood trough level of Tac, effectively reducing the Tac dosage in human transplant patients. The interaction between CLM and Tac in cats has not been reported. In this study, the effect of multiple CLM dosing on the pharmacokinetics of Tac in three healthy cats was investigated. The treatments included Tac at 0.3 mg/kg and Tac at 0.3 mg/kg + multiple-dose CLM at 10 mg/kg. Co-administration of CLM and Tac resulted in significant increases in the oral bioavailability of Tac. These preliminary findings suggest that administration of multiple doses of CLM may decrease the required Tac dosage in Tac-based immunosuppressive therapy used as an alternative to the classic cyclosporine-based protocol for feline renal transplantation.
