Abstract: The effect if any of prepared frozen grapefruit juice on prothrombin times (PTs) in patients undergoing stabilized warfarin therapy was studied.
Patients receiving low-intensity warfarin therapy (targeted International Normalized Ratio (INR), 2-3) who had two consecutive baseline PTs within 10% of each other were recruited. Patients who regularly con sumed grapefruit juice or alcohol or who were taking drugs known to interact with grapefruit juice were excluded. A one-week supply of freshly prepared frozen grapefruit juice in individual 8-oz containers was given to all the subjects, who were told to drink the entire contents of one container three times a day for one week. PTs were measured and INRs calculated on the day before grapefruit juice ingestion began (day 0) and on days 2, 6, and 8.
Ten men (mean age, 66 years) were enrolled; one withdrew because of diarrhea. Compliance in consuming the juice was reported to range from 85.7% to 100% among patients. There was no significant difference among PT or INR values over the course of the study in any of the nine subjects.
Ingestion of grapefruit juice prepared from frozen concentrate did not change PTs in patients treated with warfarin.
Index terms: Drug interactions; juices; Toxicity; Warfarin
Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 1998; 55:1581-3.