Background: Halofantrine, an antimalarial drug that prolongs the QT interval, is metabolized into N-debutyl-halofantrine by cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4. Grapefruit juice increases the bioavailability of several orally administered CYP3A4 substrates by inhibiting CYP3A4 at the enterocyte level and could therefore increase the risk of halofantrine-induced QT interval prolongation. We studied the effect of grapefruit juice on halofantrine bioavailability and on QT interval prolongation associated with its oral administration.
Methods: Twelve healthy male and female volunteers received 500 mg of halofantrine with 250 mL of water, orange juice, or grapefruit juice (250 mL once a day of regular strength for 3 days and once at 12 hours before halofantrine administration), in a random order, during a crossover study. Plasma pharmacokinetics of halofantrine and N-debutyl-halofantrine and QTc interval duration were studied during the following 168 hours.
Results: Compared with water, grapefruit juice increased halofantrine area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC) and peak plasma concentration by 2.8-fold +/- 1.5-fold (P <.0001) and 3.2-fold +/- 1.3-fold (P <.0001), respectively. There was a concomitant 2.4-fold +/- 1.6-fold decrease in N-debutyl-halofantrine AUC (P <.01) but no significant change in halofantrine elimination half-life. Maximum QTc interval prolongation increased from 17 +/- 6 ms when halofantrine was administered with water to 31 +/- 12 ms when it was administered with grapefruit juice (P <.0005). Multiple regression analysis showed that QTc interval prolongation was better correlated with halofantrine (partial r = 0.432; P <.0001) than with N-debutyl-halofantrine (partial r = 0.117; P <.01) concentrations. There was no significant difference between the water and orange juice study periods.
Conclusions: Grapefruit juice increases halofantrine bioavailability and halofantrine-induced QT interval prolongation. Grapefruit juice should be contraindicated during administration of halofantrine.