The Effect of Orlistat on the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Warfarin in Healthy Volunteers

To assess the effect of orlistat on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of warfarin, a third-party, blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, two-way crossover study was performed in 12 healthy volunteers. Each participant received single 30-mg oral doses of racemic warfarin sodium (Coumadin : DuPont Pharma, Wilmington, DE) administered on the eleventh day of treatment with 120 mg orlistat (treatment A) and placebo (treatment B) three times a day for 16 days ; the two treatments were separated by a 3-week washout period. Serial blood samples were collected before and at appropriate intervals after each dose of warfarin to determine plasma concentrations of R-warfarin and S-warfarin and blood prothrombin time (PT) and plasma Factor VII concentration. In addition, serum concentrations of vitamin K 1 and its epoxide and of osteocalcin and its undercarboxylated form were measured before breakfast on days -7, 1. 4, 6, and 10. Equivalent results between treatments with orlistat and placebo were found with regard to all pharmacokinetic parameters of R- and S-warfarin (except for time to maximum concentration of R-warfarin). Pharmacodynamic parameters of warfarin (PT and Factor VII) and vitamin K nutritional status parameters (ratios of vitamin K 1 to vitamin K 1 epoxide and undercarboxylated osteocalcin to osteocalcin) also were unaltered by orlistat. Orlistat administered at doses of 120 mg three times daily did not significantly alter the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a single 30-mg oral dose of warfarin in healthy volunteers.