Clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitor (PPI) interaction: separate intake and a non-omeprazole PPI the solution?

BACKGROUND: Dual therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel increases the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. Therefore, co-therapy with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) is recommended by most guidelines. However, there are warnings against combining PPIs with clopidogrel because of their interactions with cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 2C19 (CYP2C19). METHODS: The effects of the combined or separate intake of 20 mg of omeprazole and 75 mg of clopidogrel on the clopidogrel-induced inhibition of platelet aggregation were measured in four healthy subjects whose CYP2C19 exon sequences were determined. The effects of co-therapy with 10 mg of rabeprazole were also examined. RESULTS: Two subjects showed the wild-type CYP2C19 sequence. The concurrent intake of omeprazole had no effect on clopidogrel-induced platelet inhibition in these subjects. Two subjects were heterozygous for the *2 allele, with predicted reduced CYP2C19 activity. One of them was a clopidogrel non-responder. In the second heterozygous subject, omeprazole co-therapy reduced the clopidogrel anti-platelet effect when taken simultaneously or separately. However, the simultaneous intake of rabeprazole did not reduce the clopidogrel effect. CONCLUSION: The clopidogrel-PPI interaction does not seem to be a PPI class effect. Rabeprazole did not affect the clopidogrel effect in a subject with a clear omeprazole-clopidogrel interaction. The separate intake of PPI and clopidogrel may not be sufficient to prevent their interaction.