Gastrointestinal absorption of pimozide is enhanced by inhibition of P-glycoprotein

PLoS One. 2020 Oct 29;15(10):e0232438. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232438. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Drug-drug interaction was suggested to have played a role in the recent death due to cardiac arrest of a patient taking pimozide, sertraline and aripiprazole antipsychotic/antidepressant combination therapy. Here, we investigated the possible involvement of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated interaction among these drugs, using in vitro methods. ATPase assay confirmed that pimozide is a P-gp substrate, and might act as a P-gp inhibitor at higher concentrations. The maximum transport rate (Jmax) and half-saturation concentration (Kt) for the carrier-mediated transport estimated by means of pimozide efflux assay using P-gp-overexpressing LLC-GA5-CoL150 cells were 84.9 ± 8.9 pmol/min/mg protein, and 10.6 ± 4.7 μM, respectively. These results indicate that pimozide is a good P-gp substrate, and it appears to have the potential to cause drug-drug interactions in the digestive tract at clinically relevant gastrointestinal concentrations. Moreover, sertraline or aripiprazole significantly decreased the efflux ratio of pimozide in LLC-GA5-CoL150 cells. Transport studies using Caco-2 cell monolayers were consistent with the results in LLC-GA5-CoL150 cells, and indicate that P-gp-mediated drug-drug interaction may occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, P-gp inhibition by sertraline and/or aripiprazole may increase the gastrointestinal permeability of co-administered pimozide, resulting in an increased blood concentration of pimozide, which is known to be associated with an increased risk of QT prolongation, a life-threatening side effect.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Animals
  • Aripiprazole / pharmacology*
  • Biological Transport
  • Caco-2 Cells
  • Drug Interactions
  • Gastrointestinal Absorption
  • Humans
  • LLC-PK1 Cells
  • Pimozide / pharmacokinetics*
  • Sertraline / pharmacology*
  • Swine

Substances

  • ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1
  • Pimozide
  • Aripiprazole
  • Sertraline

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Laboratory of Biopharmaceutics, Department of Phamacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Takasaki University of Health and Walfare, and by the Gunma Yakugakunetwork.