[Clopidogrel--proton pump inhibitors drug interaction: implications to clinical practice].

Recent studies have raised the concern that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) could potentially interfere with clopidogrel antiplatelet effect. This association is frequent in clinical practice and is recommended by recent consensus guidelines in patients taking dual antiplatelet therapy to prevent gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding. Clopidogrel is a pro-drug which needs to be metabolized into its active metabolite, by cytochrome P450, especially by CYP2C19 isoenzyme. Various PPIs can inhibit CYP2C19, which could possibly decrease clopidogrel bioactivation process and, therefore, its antiplatelet effect. Various platelet function studies have shown that omeprazol can significantly decrease clopidogrel inhibitory effect on platelet P2Y12 receptor, leading to an increase in the number of patients who are "nonresponders" to clopidogrel. These pharmacokinetic studies also shown that this is not probably a class effect of PPIs, because they are metabolized to varying degrees by CYP2C19. The clinical impact of these observations remains uncertain, because various observational studies have shown conflicting results, and remains to demonstrate if PPIs can really increase the risk of cardiovascular events in patients taking clopidogrel. In this review we will discuss the pharmacokinetic basis underlying this drug interaction, the effect of different PPIs on platelet function tests and we will analyze in detail the potential clinical implications of using this association, both on cardiovascular and gastrointestinal events. Until further data is available, some clinical strategies can be recommended: (1) individual gastrointestinal risk assessment, with PPIs administration only to patients on dual anti-platelet therapy with additional GI risk factors; (2) preferential use of PPIs that have shown less interference with clopidogrel efficacy; (3) wide separation of PPI and clopidogrel dosing to minimize the risk of interaction (PPI may be given before breakfast and clopidogrel at bedtime); (4) or alternative use of histamine-2-receptor antagonist therapy, in patients at low GI risk.