TreatmentUpdate 72, Vol. 8, No. 8; October 1996
Sean Hosein

Absorption of food and certain drugs is reduced in some PHAs because of intestinal damage caused by HIV or other microbes. As well, some PHAs don't produce enough acid in their stomachs to properly digest food. Lower-than-normal levels of stomach acid affects absorption of the antifungal drug itraconazole (Sporanox(R)). Doctors in Ann Arbor, Michigan, recruited 20 HIV-infected subjects for their experiment to find out how itraconazole absorption could be increased. Some subjects took itraconazole 200 mg:

* on an empty stomach

* with food

* on an empty stomach with a supplement of acid (glutamic acid)

* with food and an acid supplement

Results

Subjects who took itraconazole with food absorbed significantly more of the drug than other subjects. Use of the acid supplement did not increase absorption of itraconazole whether the drug was taken with or without food.

REFERENCES:

1. Welage L and Kauffman C. The effect of food and gastric pH on the oral bioavailability of itraconazole in HIV+ patients. Abstract A031.

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