Grapefruit juice prolongs the QT interval of healthy volunteers and patients with long QT syndrome.

Background: The list of medications linked to drug-induced long QT syndrome (LQTS) is diverse. It is possible that food products too have QT-prolonging potential.

Objective: We tested the effects of grapefruit juice on the QT interval with the methodology used by the pharmaceutical industry to test new drugs.

Methods: This was an open-label, randomized, crossover study with blinded outcome evaluation, a thorough QT study of grapefruit juice performed according to the Guidelines for the Clinical Evaluation of QT/QTc for Non-antiarrhythmic Drugs. Thirty healthy volunteers and 10 patients with congenital LQTS were studied. Healthy volunteers drank 2 L of grapefruit juice (in divided doses), or received 400 mg oral moxifloxacin, in a randomized crossover study. Patients with LQTS were tested with only grapefruit. Repeated baseline, off-drug, and on-drug (grapefruit or moxifloxacin) electrocardiograms were scanned and coded. QT measurements were done with electronic calipers.

Results: In comparison to off-drug electrocardiograms, grapefruit juice led to significant rate-corrected QT (QTc) prolongation. The absolute net QTc prolongation from grapefruit was 14.0 ms (95% confidence interval 6.2-21.7 ms; P < .001). The QT-prolonging effects of grapefruit in healthy volunteers were comparable with those of moxifloxacin. The QT-prolonging effects of grapefruit juice were greater in female patients and particularly marked in patients with LQTS (net QTc prolongation 21.8 ms; 95% confidence interval 3.4-35.3 ms; P = .034).

Conclusion: Grapefruit juice, at doses tested, prolongs the QT interval. The effect is significant in healthy volunteers, greater in female patients, and more so in patients with LQTS.