The interaction between angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor blockers (ARBs), such as losartan potassium (LO), candesartan (CA), and telmisartan (TE), and dietary fiber was studied as to the level of free ARB in vitro. When ARB was incubated with soluble (sodium alginate, pectin, and glucomannan) or insoluble (cellulose and chitosan) dietary fiber, the levels of free LO, TE, and CA decreased. This resulted only from mixing the dietary fiber with the ARBs and differed among the types of dietary fiber, and the pH and electrolytes in the mixture. The levels of free LO and TE tended to decrease with a higher concentration of sodium chloride in pH 1.2 fluid. These results suggest that it is important to pay attention to the possible interactions between ARBs and dietary fiber.Key words angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker (ARB); dietary fiber; interaction Dietary fiber is defined as all dietary ingredients that are not digested by digestive enzymes in humans.1) Recently, many people have started to use dietary fiber supplements and to pay more attention to fiber in the diet, which can have many health benefits.2,3) Dietary fiber reduces the risk of developing health problems, such as obesity, 4,5) hypertension, [6][7][8] constipation, 9,10) type 2 diabetes, 9,11,12) and hyperlipidemia. 9,13,14) A high intake of fiber may lower mean blood pressure in people with hypertension, 7) as well as in healthy subjects. 8) There are also many possible interactions between dietary fiber and drugs.
15)Dietary fiber reduces the bioavailability of some minerals, nutrients, and certain drugs, 9,16) although the interaction between dietary fiber and drugs remains poorly understood.Patients with hypertension will generally be treated with various antihypertensive drugs. In recent years, numerous orally active, selective angiotensin II type 1 (AT1)-receptor blockers (ARBs) have come into clinical use.15) Losartan potassium (LO), candesartan (CA), and telmisartan (TE) are AT1-selective ARBs (Fig. 1) currently being developed for the treatment of hypertension and heart failure.Dietary fiber adsorbs drugs, thereby altering the quantity of the free from of the drugs.2,17) Thus, it is important to understand how dietary fiber interacts with ARBs. The bioavailability of orally administered drugs depends on their absorption, which is affected by several factors, such as the pK a of a drug, the pH at the absorptive site, and the gastric emptying rate. Within the gastrointestinal tract, dietary fiber behaves as a polymer matrix with variable physicochemical properties, including susceptibility to bacterial fermentation, water-holding capacity, cation-exchange function, and adsorptive function.9) The absorption of a certain drug or substance, when administered concomitantly with guar gum and other dietary fibers, may be modified by altered gastric emptying, lower diffusion from viscous matrices than from solutions, and cholestyramine-like actions.16) The hypocholesterolemic activity of lovastatin decreases in the presence of oat bran or pectin...