A potential drawback of cholestyramine is that it can bind other drugs in the GI tract, leading to what effect?

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Multiple Choice

A potential drawback of cholestyramine is that it can bind other drugs in the GI tract, leading to what effect?

The main concept is that this drug, a bile acid sequestrant, stays in the GI tract and can form nonabsorbed complexes with other medications as they pass through. Because of this binding, those coadministered drugs are less able to be absorbed into the bloodstream, so their systemic exposure decreases. In pharmacokinetic terms, bioavailability drops and more of the drug is eliminated in the stool, which can reduce the drug’s effectiveness. This is why the correct effect is a decrease in absorption and an increase in excretion of coadministered drugs.

The main concept is that this drug, a bile acid sequestrant, stays in the GI tract and can form nonabsorbed complexes with other medications as they pass through. Because of this binding, those coadministered drugs are less able to be absorbed into the bloodstream, so their systemic exposure decreases. In pharmacokinetic terms, bioavailability drops and more of the drug is eliminated in the stool, which can reduce the drug’s effectiveness. This is why the correct effect is a decrease in absorption and an increase in excretion of coadministered drugs.

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