Drug Interaction Report

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.

ADJUST DOSING INTERVAL: Food may alter the oral bioavailability of cabozantinib. When healthy subjects were given a single 140 mg oral dose with a high-fat meal, cabozantinib peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and systemic exposure (AUC) increased by 41% and 57%, respectively, relative to administration under fasting conditions. In clinical studies, patients were administered cabozantinib without food.

GENERALLY AVOID: Coadministration with grapefruit juice is likely to increase the plasma concentrations of cabozantinib, which is primarily metabolized by CYP450 3A4. However, the interaction has not been studied. The proposed mechanism is inhibition of CYP450 3A4-mediated first-pass metabolism in the gut wall by certain compounds present in grapefruit.

MANAGEMENT: Cabozantinib should be administered at least one hour before or two hours after a meal. The consumption of grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and supplements that contain grapefruit extract should be avoided.