Azithromycin and terfenadine: lack of drug interaction

A double-blind placebo-controlled study was conducted in healthy men to determine the effect of coadministration of azithromycin on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of terfenadine. Administration of 500 mg azithromycin for 1 day and 250 mg on 4 subsequent days did not affect the pharmacokinetics of the pharmacologically active terfenadine carboxylate metabolite when 60 mg terfenadine was given twice daily for 12 days, starting 7 days before azithromycin administration. Terfenadine alone resulted in a 0.010 msec increase in the rate-corrected QT interval (QTc), but the incremental effects of azithromycin and placebo on QTc in volunteers receiving terfenadine were not statistically different. It is concluded that the potentially life-threatening disorders that have been attributed to a pharmacokinetic interaction between macrolide antibiotics and terfenadine are unlikely to take place in patients treated simultaneously with azithromycin and terfenadine.