Drug Interactions between suvorexant and tirzepatide

GENERALLY AVOID: Alcohol may potentiate some of the pharmacologic effects of suvorexant. Use in combination may result in additive central nervous system depression and/or impairment of judgment, thinking, and psychomotor skills. In addition, alcohol may increase the risk of cognitive and complex behavioral changes associated with the use of hypnotics including suvorexant, such as amnesia, anxiety, hallucinations, sleep-driving, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms.

ADJUST DOSE: Grapefruit juice may significantly increase the plasma concentrations of suvorexant. The proposed mechanism is inhibition of CYP450 3A4-mediated first-pass metabolism in the gut wall by certain compounds present in grapefruit.

ADJUST DOSING INTERVAL: Administration with or soon after a meal may delay the gastrointestinal absorption of suvorexant. According to the product labeling, administration of suvorexant with a high-fat meal resulted in no meaningful change in peak plasma concentration (Cmax) or systemic exposure (AUC), but a delay in Tmax of approximately 1.5 hours.

MANAGEMENT: Concomitant use of suvorexant with alcohol should be avoided. Patients should be advised not to use suvorexant if they had alcohol that evening or before bed. Grapefruit juice should preferably be avoided; otherwise, the recommended dose of suvorexant is 5 mg when used with grapefruit juice and should not exceed 10 mg. Suvorexant may be taken with or without food; however, for faster sleep onset, suvorexant should not be administered with or soon after a meal.

MONITOR: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and dual GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonists can delay gastric emptying, which may impact the absorption of concomitantly administered oral medications. Mild to moderate decreases in plasma concentrations of coadministered drugs have been demonstrated in pharmacokinetic studies for some GLP-1 receptor agonists (e.g., exenatide, lixisenatide), but not others. According to the prescribing information, liraglutide did not affect the absorption of several orally administered drugs to any clinically significant extent, including acetaminophen, atorvastatin, digoxin, griseofulvin, lisinopril, and an oral contraceptive containing ethinyl estradiol-levonorgestrel. Likewise, no clinically relevant effect on absorption was observed for concomitantly administered oral drugs studied with albiglutide (digoxin, ethinyl estradiol-norethindrone, simvastatin, warfarin), dulaglutide (acetaminophen, atorvastatin, digoxin, ethinyl estradiol-norelgestromin, lisinopril, metformin, metoprolol, sitagliptin, warfarin), or semaglutide (atorvastatin, digoxin, ethinyl estradiol-levonorgestrel, metformin, warfarin). The impact of dual GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist tirzepatide on gastric emptying was reported to be dose- and time-dependent, with the greatest effect observed after a single 5 mg dose but diminished after subsequent doses. When acetaminophen was administered following a single 5 mg dose of tirzepatide, acetaminophen peak plasma concentration (Cmax) was decreased by 50% and its median time to peak plasma concentration (Tmax) delayed by 1 hour. However, no significant impact on acetaminophen Cmax and Tmax was observed after 4 consecutive weekly doses of tirzepatide (5 mg/5 mg/8 mg/10 mg), and the overall exposure (AUC) of acetaminophen was unaffected. Tirzepatide at lower doses of 0.5 mg and 1.5 mg also had minimal effects on acetaminophen exposure.

MANAGEMENT: Although no specific dosage adjustment of concomitant medications is generally recommended based on available data, potential clinical impact on some oral medications cannot be ruled out, particularly those with a narrow therapeutic index or low bioavailability, those that depend on threshold concentrations for efficacy (e.g., antibiotics), and those that require rapid gastrointestinal absorption (e.g., hypnotics, analgesics). Pharmacologic response to concomitantly administered oral medications should be monitored more closely following initiation, dose adjustment, or discontinuation of a GLP-1 receptor agonist or a dual GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist.