An integrative population pharmacokinetics (PPK)-based approach was used to characterize the effect of hepatic impairment on clobazam PK and its major metabolite in systemic circulation, N-desmethylclobazam (N-CLB). At therapeutic clobazam dosages, N-CLB plasma concentrations are 3-5 times greater than the parent compound. PK data from clinical trials in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS; OV-1002 and OV-1012), healthy participants (OV-1016), and participants with and without renal impairment (OV-1032), as well as those from a publication describing the effects of hepatic impairment on clobazam PK, were merged to create the PPK model. Individual patient clobazam PK parameters from the publication were used to generate patient plasma-concentration data. Clobazam PK was linear and the formation of N-CLB was elimination-rate limited. Hepatic impairment did not affect the total apparent clearance of clobazam but may affect the PK of N-CLB. Because the formation of N-CLB is elimination-rate limited and the total apparent clearance of clobazam is unaffected by hepatic impairment, the PPK model suggests that patients with LGS and hepatic impairment may not require clobazam dosage modification.
Keywords: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome; clobazam; hepatic impairment; population pharmacokinetics.
© 2015, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.