A screening study of drug-drug interactions in cerivastatin users: an adverse effect of clopidogrel

摘要

An analysis of a case-control study of rhabdomyolysis was conducted to screen for previously unrecognized CYP2C8 inhibitors that may cause other clinically important drug-drug interactions. Cases of rhabdomyolysis using cerivastatin (n=72) were compared with controls using atorvastatin (n=287) between 1998–2001. The use of clopidogrel (OR 29.6; 95% CI, 6.1–143) was strongly associated with rhabdomyolysis. In a replication effort that used the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS), clopidogrel was used more commonly by rhabdomyolysis cases using cerivastatin (17%) than by rhabdomyolysis cases using atorvastatin (0%, OR infinity; 95% CI = 5.2-infinity). Several medications were tested in vitro for their potential to cause drug-drug interactions. Clopidogrel, rosiglitazone and montelukast were the most potent inhibitors of cerivastatin metabolism. Clopidogrel and its metabolites also inhibited cerivastatin metabolism in human hepatocytes. These epidemiological and in-vitro findings suggest that clopidogrel may cause clinically important, dose dependent, drug-drug interactions with other medications metabolized by CYP2C8.