Skip to main content

Drug Interactions between Colcrys and echinacea

This report displays the potential drug interactions for the following 2 drugs:

Edit list (add/remove drugs)

Interactions between your drugs

Moderate

colchicine echinacea

Applies to: Colcrys (colchicine) and echinacea

MONITOR: Coadministration with echinacea may alter the plasma concentrations and therapeutic effects of drugs that are substrates of CYP450 3A4. Echinacea appears to inhibit intestinal CYP450 3A4, which would lead to an increase in oral midazolam (a sensitive 3A4 substrate) bioavailability; however, plasma levels of midazolam following oral administration do not appear to be affected by echinacea. In contrast, it appears that echinacea may also induce hepatic CYP450 3A4; thereby increasing the hepatic clearance of drugs that are substrates of CYP450 3A4. According to reports, echinacea may increase the hepatic clearance of intravenous (IV) midazolam by 34% and decrease the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) and half-life of IV midazolam by 20% and 42%, respectively.

MANAGEMENT: In general, patients should be advised to consult their healthcare provider before using any herbal or alternative medicines. If echinacea is prescribed with a drug that is a CYP450 3A4 substrate, the possibility of an altered (increased or decreased) therapeutic response should be considered. Patients should be monitored more closely following the addition or withdrawal of echinacea and the dosage of the CYP450 3A4 substrate adjusted as necessary.

References

  1. Gorski JC, Huang SM, Pinto A, et al. (2004) "The effect of echinacea (Echinacea purpurea root) on cytochrome P450 activity in vivo." Clin Pharmacol Ther, 75, p. 89-100
  2. Cerner Multum, Inc. "Australian Product Information."

Switch to consumer interaction data

Drug and food interactions

Major

colchicine food

Applies to: Colcrys (colchicine)

GENERALLY AVOID: Coadministration with grapefruit juice may increase the serum concentrations of colchicine. Clinical toxicity including myopathy, neuropathy, multiorgan failure, and pancytopenia may occur. The proposed mechanism is inhibition of CYP450 3A4-mediated first-pass metabolism and P-glycoprotein efflux in the gut wall by certain compounds present in grapefruits. A published case report describes an eight-year-old patient with familial Mediterranean fever who developed acute clinical colchicine intoxication after ingesting approximately one liter of grapefruit juice per day for two months prior to hospital admission while being treated with colchicine 2 mg/day. Her condition progressed to circulatory shock and multiorgan failure, but she recovered with supportive therapy after 24 days in the hospital. In a study of 21 healthy volunteers, administration of 240 mL grapefruit juice twice a day for 4 days was found to have no significant effect on the pharmacokinetics of a single 0.6 mg dose of colchicine. However, significant interactions have been reported with other CYP450 3A4 inhibitors such as clarithromycin, diltiazem, erythromycin, ketoconazole, ritonavir, and verapamil.

MANAGEMENT: Patients treated with colchicine should be advised to avoid the consumption of grapefruit and grapefruit juice, and to contact their physician if they experience symptoms of colchicine toxicity such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, myalgia, asthenia, hyporeflexia, paresthesia, and numbness.

References

  1. Pettinger WA (1975) "Clonidine, a new antihypertensive drug." N Engl J Med, 293, p. 1179-80
  2. Caraco Y, Putterman C, Rahamimov R, Ben-Chetrit E (1992) "Acute colchicine intoxication: possible role of erythromycin administration." J Rheumatol, 19, p. 494-6
  3. Schiff D, Drislane FW (1992) "Rapid-onset colchicine myoneuropathy." Arthritis Rheum, 35, p. 1535-6
  4. Putterman C, Ben-Chetrit E, Caraco Y, Levy M (1991) "Colchicine intoxication: clinical pharmacology, risk factors, features, and management." Semin Arthritis Rheum, 21, p. 143-55
  5. Boomershine KH (2002) "Colchicine-induced rhabdomyolysis." Ann Pharmacother, 36, p. 824-6
  6. (2003) "Severe colchicine-macrolide interactions." Prescrire Int, 12, p. 18-9
  7. Tateishi T, Soucek P, Caraco Y, Guengerich FP, Wood AJ (1996) "Colchicine biotransformation by human liver microsomes. Identification of CYP3A4 as the major isoform responsible for colchicine demethylation." Biochem Pharmacol, 53, p. 111-6
  8. Dogukan A, Oymak FS, Taskapan H, Guven M, Tokgoz B, Utas C (2001) "Acute fatal colchicine intoxication in a patient on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Possible role of clarithromycin administration." Clin Nephrol, 55, p. 181-2
  9. Rollot F, Pajot O, Chauvelot-Moachon L, Nazal EM, Kelaidi C, Blanche P (2004) "Acute colchicine intoxication during clarithromycin administration." Ann Pharmacother, 38, p. 2074-7
  10. Wilbur K, Makowsky M (2004) "Colchicine myotoxicity: case reports and literature review." Pharmacotherapy, 24, p. 1784-92
  11. Hung IF, Wu AK, Cheng VC, et al. (2005) "Fatal interaction between clarithromycin and colchicine in patients with renal insufficiency: a retrospective study." Clin Infect Dis, 41, p. 291-300
  12. Cheng VC, Ho PL, Yuen KY (2005) "Two probable cases of serious drug interaction between clarithromycin and colchicine." South Med J, 98, p. 811-3
  13. Akdag I, Ersoy A, Kahvecioglu S, Gullulu M, Dilek K (2006) "Acute colchicine intoxication during clarithromycin administration in patients with chronic renal failure." J Nephrol, 19, p. 515-7
  14. van der Velden W, Huussen J, Ter Laak H, de Sevaux R (2008) "Colchicine-induced neuromyopathy in a patient with chronic renal failure: the role of clarithromycin." Neth J Med, 66, p. 204-6
  15. Goldbart A, Press J, Sofer S, Kapelushnik J (2000) "Near fatal acute colchicine intoxication in a child. A case report." Eur J Pediatr, 159, p. 895-7
  16. (2008) "Colchicine: serious interactions." Prescrire Int, 17, p. 151-3
  17. (2009) "Product Information. Colcrys (colchicine)." AR Scientific Inc
  18. Dahan A, Amidon GL (2009) "Grapefruit juice and its constitueants augment colchicine intestinal absorption: potential hazardous interaction and the role of p-glycoprotein." Pharm Res, 26, p. 883-92
  19. McKinnell J, Tayek JA (2009) "Short term treatment with clarithromycin resulting in colchicine-induced rhabdomyolysis." J Clin Rheumatol, 15, p. 303-5
View all 19 references

Switch to consumer interaction data

Therapeutic duplication warnings

No warnings were found for your selected drugs.

Therapeutic duplication warnings are only returned when drugs within the same group exceed the recommended therapeutic duplication maximum.

See also

Report options

Loading...
QR code containing a link to this page

Drug Interaction Classification

These classifications are only a guideline. The relevance of a particular drug interaction to a specific individual is difficult to determine. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting or stopping any medication.
Major Highly clinically significant. Avoid combinations; the risk of the interaction outweighs the benefit.
Moderate Moderately clinically significant. Usually avoid combinations; use it only under special circumstances.
Minor Minimally clinically significant. Minimize risk; assess risk and consider an alternative drug, take steps to circumvent the interaction risk and/or institute a monitoring plan.
Unknown No interaction information available.

Further information

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

Medical Disclaimer