Skip to main content
Log in

Pharmacokinetics and tolerability of oral dosage forms of huperzine a in healthy Chinese male volunteers: a randomized, single dose, three-period, six-sequence crossover study

  • Published:
Current Medical Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Huperzine A is a potent, reversible, and blood-brain barrier permeable acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. The aim of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics, tolerability, and bioavailability of two formulations with the established reference formulation of huperzine A in a fasting, healthy Chinese male population. This was a randomized, single-dose, 3-period, 6-sequence crossover study. The plasma concentrations of huperzine A were determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Tolerability was assessed based on subject interview, vital sign monitoring, physical examination, and routine blood and urine tests. The mean (SD) pharmacokinetic parameters of the reference drug were Cmax, 1.550 (0.528) ng/mL; t1/2, 12.092 (1.898) h; AUC0-72h, 17.550 (3.794) ng·h/mL. Those of the test formulation A and test formulation B were Cmax, 1.412 (0.467), 1.521 (0.608) ng/mL; t1/2, 12.073 (2.068), 12.271 (1.678) h; AUC0-72h, 15.286 (3.434) ng·h/mL, 15.673 (3.586) ng·h/mL. The 90% confidence intervals for the AUC0-72h and Cmax were between 0.80 and 1.25. No adverse events were reported by the subjects or found with results of clinical laboratory test. The test and reference products met the regulatory criteria for bioequivalence in these fasting, healthy Chinese male volunteers. All three formulations appeared to be well tolerated.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wang R, Yan H, Tang XC. Progress in studies of huperzine A, a natural cholinesterase inhibitor from Chinese herbal medicine. Acta pharmacol Sin, 2006,27(1):1–26

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Ye JC, Zeng S, Zheng GL, et al. Pharmacokinetics of Huperzine A after transdermal and oral administration in beagle dogs. Int J Pharm, 2008,356(1-2):187–92

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Chu DF, Fu XQ, Liu WH, et al. Pharmacokinetics and in vitro and in vivo correlation of huperzine A loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres in dogs. Int J Pharm, 2006,325(1-2):116–123

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Coleman BR, Ratcliffe RH, Oguntayo SA, et al. [+]-Huperzine A treatment protects against N-methyl-Daspartate-induced seizure/status epilepticus in rats. Chem Biol Interact, 2008,175(1-3):387–395

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Zhang Z, Wang X, Chen Q, et al. Clinical efficacy and safety of huperzine Alpha in treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease, a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial. Zhonghua Yixue Zazhi (Chinese), 2002,82(14):941–944

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ma X, Tan C, Zhu D, et al. Huperzine A from Huperzia species—an ethnopharmacolgical review. J Ethnopharmacol, 2007,113(1):15–34

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. US National Institutes of Health. Huperzine A in Alzheimer's Disease. http://clinicaltrialsgov/ct2/show/ NCT00083590

  8. US National Institutes of Health. Evaluation of Three Potential Central Nervous System (CNS) Pretreatments for Soman Exposure on Human Performance. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01194336

  9. Hayden C. A generic solution?: pharmaceuticals and the politics of the similar in Mexico. Curr Anthropol, 2007,48(4):475–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. US Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). Guidance for Industry. Bioavailability and bioequivalence studies for orally administered durg products-general considerations. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/drugs/developmentapprovalprocess/howdrugsaredevelopedandapproved/approvalapplications/abbreviatednewdrugapplicationandagenerics/ucm154838.pdf

  11. State Food and Drug Administration. Guideline for bioavailability and bioequivalence studies of generic drug products (Chinese). http://www.sda.gov.cn/gsz05106/08.pdf

  12. Jiang B, Ruan Z, Chen J, et al. Pharmacokinetic properties and bioequivalence of orally inhaled salbutamol in healthy Chinese volunteers. Drug Dev Ind Pharm, 2016,42(9): 1476–1481

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Liew KB, Peh KK, Loh GO, et al. Three-ways crossover bioequivalence study of cephalexin in healthy Malay volunteers. Drug Dev Ind Pharm, 2014,40(9):1156–1162

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Li YX, Zhang RQ, Li CR, et al. Pharmacokinetics of huperzine A following oral administration to human volunteers. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet, 2007,32(4): 183–187

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Qian BC, Wang M, Zhou ZF, et al. Pharmacokinetics of tablet huperzine A in six volunteers. Acta Pharmacol Sin, 1995,16(5):396–398

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Li W, Li J, Hu Q. Determination of huperzine A in human plasma by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry: application to a bioequivalence study on Chinese volunteers. Biomed Chromatogr, 2008,22(4): 354–360

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Part 320. Bioavailabilty and bioequivalence requirements. US Food and Drug Administration Web site. April 2010. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfr search.cfm?cfrpart=320

  18. Shi S, Liu Y, Wu J, et al. Comparative bioavailability and tolerability of a single 20-mg dose of two fluoxetine hydrochloride dispersible tablet formulations in fasting, healthy Chinese male volunteers: an open-label, randomized-sequence, two-period crossover study. Clin Ther, 2010,32(11):1977–1986

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Li C, Du F, Yu C, et al. A sensitive method for the determination of the novel cholinesterase inhibitor ZT-1 and its active metabolite huperzine A in rat blood using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom, 2004,18(6):651–656

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Yue P, Tao T, Zhao Y, et al. Determination of Huperzine A in rat plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector. J Pharm Biomed Anal, 2007,44(1):309–312

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Yue P, Tao T, Zhao Y, et al. Huperzine A in rat plasma and CSF following intranasal administration. Int J Pharm, 2007,337(1-2):127–132

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Xu SS, Cai ZY, Qu ZW, et al. Huperzine-A in capsules and tablets for treating patients with Alzheimer disease. Acta Pharmacol Sin, 1999,20(6):486–490

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Iqbal M, Khuroo A, Batolar LS, et al. Pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence study of three oral formulations of valsartan 160 mg: a single-dose, randomized, open-label, three-period crossover comparison in healthy Indian male volunteers. Clin Ther, 2010,32(3):588–596

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Critchley DJ, Aluri J, Boyd P, et al. Bioavailability of three rufinamide oral suspensions compared with the marketed 400-mg tablet formulation: results from a randomized-sequence, open-label, four-period, four-sequence crossover study in healthy subjects. Clin Ther, 2011,33(1):146–157

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jian-geng Huang  (黄建耿) or Ya-ni Liu  (刘亚妮).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wu, Sl., Gan, J., Rao, J. et al. Pharmacokinetics and tolerability of oral dosage forms of huperzine a in healthy Chinese male volunteers: a randomized, single dose, three-period, six-sequence crossover study. CURR MED SCI 37, 795–802 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-017-1807-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-017-1807-8

Key words

Navigation