Drug metabolism in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A phenotyping cocktail study

To evaluate the effect of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on drug metabolism by comparing the pharmacokinetics of patients with severe COPD with healthy volunteers and using the modified Inje drug cocktail.

This was a single-centre pharmacokinetic study with 12 healthy participants and 7 participants with GOLD D COPD. Midazolam 1 mg, dextromethorphan 30 mg, losartan 25 mg, omeprazole 20 mg, caffeine 130 mg and paracetamol 1000 mg were simultaneously administered and intensive pharmacokinetic sampling was conducted over 8 hours. Drug metabolism by CYP3A4, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP1A2, UGT1A6 and UGT1A9 in participants with COPD were compared with phenotypes in healthy controls.

The oral clearance (95% confidence interval) in participants with COPD relative to controls was: midazolam 63% (60-67%); dextromethorphan 72% (40-103%); losartan 53% (52-55%); omeprazole 35% (31-39%); caffeine 52% (50-53%); and paracetamol 73% (72-74%). There was a 5-fold increase in AUC for omeprazole and approximately 2-fold increases for caffeine, losartan, dextromethorphan, and midazolam. The AUC of paracetamol, which is mostly glucuronidated, was increased by about 60%.

Severe COPD is associated with a clinically significant reduction in oral drug clearance. This may be greater for cytochrome P450 substrates than for glucuronidated drugs. This supports reduced starting doses when prescribing for patients with severe COPD.