Montelukast dose selection in 6- to 14-year-olds: comparison of single-dose pharmacokinetics in children and adults

J Clin Pharmacol. 1999 Aug;39(8):786-93. doi: 10.1177/00912709922008434.

Abstract

Montelukast, an oral leukotriene-receptor antagonist, has demonstrated efficacy and tolerability for the treatment of chronic asthma in adults. A once-daily 10 mg dose (film-coated tablet) was selected as the optimal adult dose based on dose-ranging studies. Asthma is a similar disease and is treated with the same medications in children and adults. These observations suggested that a dose of montelukast in children providing overall drug exposure (i.e., montelukast plasma concentrations) similar to that of the 10 mg film-coated tablet dose in adults would be efficacious, well tolerated, and obviate the need for separate dose-ranging studies in children. Therefore, the dose of montelukast for 6- to 14-year-old children was selected by identifying the chewable tablet dose of montelukast yielding a single-dose area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) comparable to that achieved with the adult 10 mg film-coated tablet dose. Based on this approach, which included dose normalization of data from several pediatric pharmacokinetic studies, a 5 mg chewable tablet dose of montelukast was selected for use in clinical efficacy studies in 6- to 14-year-old children with asthma.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study
  • Controlled Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetates / administration & dosage
  • Acetates / blood
  • Acetates / pharmacokinetics*
  • Administration, Oral
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Area Under Curve
  • Asthma / drug therapy
  • Asthma / metabolism
  • Child
  • Cyclopropanes
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Female
  • Half-Life
  • Humans
  • Leukotriene Antagonists / administration & dosage
  • Leukotriene Antagonists / pharmacokinetics
  • Male
  • Quinolines / administration & dosage
  • Quinolines / blood
  • Quinolines / pharmacokinetics*
  • Sulfides
  • Tablets
  • Tablets, Enteric-Coated
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Acetates
  • Cyclopropanes
  • Leukotriene Antagonists
  • Quinolines
  • Sulfides
  • Tablets
  • Tablets, Enteric-Coated
  • montelukast