The Effect of Coffee on Pharmacokinetic Properties of Drugs : A Review

BACKGROUND: Coffee has been the most commercialized food product and most widely consumed stimulant beverage in the world. It is a major source of caffeine which is the most bioactive component of coffee. Although both the United States Department of Agriculture and European Food Safety Authority consider daily intake of coffee which contains 400 mg of caffeine as safe for health, it causes different clinically significant pharmacokinetic interactions with many drugs. The aim of this work was to review the effect of coffee on the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs. METHOD: This review was done by investigating the in vitro and in vivo research findings, clinical case reports, and expert panels from credible sources including Scopus, PubMed, Hindawi, OVID, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. RESULT: Several studies and medical case reports evidently showed that concomitant consumption of coffee significantly affects the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of many drugs. These effects of coffee on the pharmacokinetics of drugs could lead to enhanced therapeutic response, therapeutic failure, or toxic reactions. Conclusion and Recommendation. Concomitant use of coffee should be avoided with medications which have a significant interaction with coffee. There should be an appropriate time gap between intake of drugs and coffee based on drug properties. Pharmacists and clinicians should be aware of the potential risks of drug-coffee interaction and advice patients appropriately. Further in vitro and in vivo studies should be done for frequently prescribed drugs to get a strong evidence on the pharmacokinetic interaction with coffee.