In-vitro Studies of Food Interaction with Dihydroartemisinin – Piperaquine Antimalarial Tablet

The study assessed molecular interactions between the actives in antimalarial dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) tablet and food components using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Soluble starch, lactose, albumin, sunflower oil and carbonated drinks were pelletized with powdered DP tablet simultaneously using potassium bromide (KBr) method and analyzed with essential FTIR (eFTlR) software. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and piperaquine (PQ) showed characteristic bond vibrations consistent with reference to literature values. Carbohydrates food components had no significant effect on the DHA and PQ characteristic vibrations. Albumin powder shifted the aromatic (C-H) stretching of PQ from 3009 to 3387 cm-1, and aliphatic (C-H) stretching at 2874 to 2935 cm-1. DHA (C-H) stretching at 3419 cm-1 was shifted to 3387 cm-1 on admixture with albumin without significant shift for endoperoxide link (i.e., 875 to 881 cm-1), (C=O) stretching (i.e.,1735 to 1743 cm-1) and (O-H) stretching (2926 to 2928 cm-1). Sunflower oil caused a shift of the DHA spectra feature for (C-H) stretching at 3419 to 3385 cm-1. Sunflower oil also shifted the aromatic (C-H) bending for PQ from 775 to 721 cm-1. Carbonated drink admixture with DP tablet significantly shifted all the spectra features of PQ and DHA. Albumin and carbonated drinks produced significant changes in the spectra features of the actives in DP. Ingestion of protein meals or carbonated drinks with DP tablet may affect the bioavailability of the actives.