Effect of food thickener and jelly wafer on the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets

Takashi Tomita; Akiko Yamaguchi; Naoe Nishimura; Hidekazu Goto; Kenji Sumiya; Ryo Arakawa; Tadashi Yoshida; Hidehisa Tachiki; Yukinao Kohda; Kenzo Kudo

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02764

Effect of food thickener and jelly wafer on the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets

Heliyon. 2019 Nov 26;5(11):e02764. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02764. eCollection 2019 Nov.

Authors

Takashi Tomita^{1

2}, Akiko Yamaguchi³, Naoe Nishimura³, Hidekazu Goto², Kenji Sumiya⁴, Ryo Arakawa⁵, Tadashi Yoshida⁶, Hidehisa Tachiki³, Yukinao Kohda^{2

7}, Kenzo Kudo¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, Iwate Medical University, 2-1-1, Nishitokuta, Yahabacho, Shiwagun, Iwate, 028-3694, Japan.
² Department of Pharmacy, Hospital Bando, 411 Kutsukake, Bando, Ibaraki, 306-0515, Japan.
³ TOWA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Kyoto Analytical Science Center, Kyoto Research Park KISTIC #202, 134, Chudoji Minami-machi, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, 600-8813, Japan.
⁴ Faculty of Pharmacy, Iwaki Meisei University, 5-5-1 Chuodai Iino, Iwaki, Fukushima, 970-8551, Japan.
⁵ The Nisshin OilliO Group, Ltd., Central Research Laboratory, 1 Shinmori-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama 235-8558, Japan.
⁶ Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Bando, 411 Kutsukake, Bando, Ibaraki, 306-0515 Japan.
⁷ Faculty of Health Sciences, Tsukuba International University, 6-20-1 Manabe, Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, 300-0051, Japan.

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the effects of a food thickener and deglutition aid jelly for oral administration, jelly wafer, on the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets. With an increase in immersion time, the disintegration time of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets immersed in food thickener was prolonged, whereas that of the tablets immersed in jelly wafer was shortened. The dissolution behavior of non-immersed levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets was not similar to that of tablets immersed in food thickener, but was similar to that of tablets immersed in jelly wafer. The time to reach the maximum systemic levofloxacin concentration was the same for non-immersed orally disintegrating tablets and tablets immersed in food thickener and jelly wafer. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the maximum concentration after administration between non-immersed orally disintegrating tablets and tablets immersed in food thickener or jelly wafer. These findings suggest that drugs with a high bioavailability, such as levofloxacin, enter the systemic circulation even when administered with a food thickener or jelly wafer.

Keywords: Food technology; Food thickener; Jelly-wafer; Levofloxacin; Orally-disintegrating tablet; Pharmaceutical chemistry; Pharmacokinetics.