Oral delivery of anticoagulant doses of heparin. A randomized, double-blind, controlled study in humans.

BACKGROUND Parenteral heparin is the anticoagulant of choice in hospitalized patients. Continued anticoagulation is achieved by subcutaneous administration of low-molecular-weight heparin or with an orally active anticoagulant such as warfarin. An oral heparin formulation would avoid the inconvenience of subcutaneous injection and the unfavorable drug interactions and adverse events associated with warfarin. A candidate delivery agent, sodium N-[8(-2-hydroxybenzoyl)amino]caprylate (SNAC), was evaluated with escalating oral heparin doses in a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical study for safety, tolerability, and effects on indexes of anticoagulation. METHODS AND RESULTS Increases in activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), anti-factors IIa and Xa, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) concentrations were detected when normal volunteers were dosed with 10.5 g SNAC/20000 IU heparin by gavage in some subjects. For the entire group, 30000 IU SNAC and heparin elevated TFPI from 74.9+/-7.6 to 254.2+/-12.3 mg/mL (P<0.001) 1 hour after dosing (P<0.001). Similar changes occurred in anti-factor IIa and anti-factor Xa. aPTT rose from 28+/-0.5 to 42.2+/-6.3 seconds 2 hours after dosing (P<0.01). No significant changes in vital signs, physical examination, ECGs, or clinical laboratory values were observed. Neither 30000 IU heparin alone nor 10.5 g SNAC alone altered the hemostatic parameters. Emesis was associated with 10.5 g SNAC. A taste-masked preparation of SNAC 2.25 g was administered orally with heparin 30000 to 150000 IU. Both aPTT and anti-factor Xa increased with escalating doses of heparin. This preparation was well tolerated. Conclusions-Heparin, administered orally in combination with the delivery agent SNAC, produces significant elevations in 4 indexes of anticoagulant effect in healthy human volunteers. These results establish the feasibility of oral delivery of anticoagulant doses of heparin in humans and may have broader implications for the absorption of macromolecules.