Clinical Significance and Patterns of Potential Drug–Drug Interactions in Cardiovascular Patients: Focus on Low-Dose Aspirin and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the patterns and clinical significance of potential drug–drug interactions (pDDIs) in patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system. Methods: Electronic health records (EHRs), established in 2018–2023, were selected using the probability serial nested sampling method (n = 1030). Patients were aged 27 to 95 years (65.0% men). Primary diagnosis of COVID-19 was present in 17 EHRs (1.7%). Medscape Drug Interaction Checker was used to characterize pDDIs. The Mann–Whitney U test and chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Drug numbers per record ranged from 1 to 23 in T-List and from 1 to 20 in P-List. In T-List, 567 drug combinations resulted in 3781 pDDIs. In P-List, 584 drug combinations resulted in 5185 pDDIs. Polypharmacy was detected in 39.0% of records in T-List versus 65.9% in P-List (p-value < 0.05). The rates of serious and monitor-closely pDDIs due to ‘aspirin + captopril’ combinations were significantly higher in P-List than in T-List (p-value < 0.05). The rates of serious pDDIs due to ‘aspirin + enalapril’ and ‘aspirin + lisinopril’ combinations were significantly lower in P-List compared with the corresponding rates in T-List (p-value < 0.05). Serious pDDIs due to administration of aspirin with fosinopril, perindopril, and ramipril were detected less frequently in T-List (p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: Obtained data may suggest better patient adherence to ‘aspirin + enalapril’ and ‘aspirin + lisinopril’ combinations, which are potentially superior to the combinations of aspirin with fosinopril, perindopril, and ramipril. An abundance of high-order pDDIs in real-world clinical practice warrants the development of a decision support system aimed at reducing pharmacotherapy-associated risks while integrating patient pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pharmacogenetic information.