Vaskulárna medicína 1/2019

Pharmacological properties of dabigatran

Dabigatran etexilate is quickly absorbable prodrug with reduced biological availability, which is fastly hydrolyzed to its active form (dabigatran) in the circulation. Its anticoagulant effect is based on the direct thrombin inhibition and thus prevents the formation of the fibrin clot and thrombin generation. Dabigatran is a member of the group of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) that generally have quick onset and also offset of action, more predictable anticoagulant effect as compared with warfarin for his numerous food and drug interactions, and they can be administered in the fixed doses without the need of routine monitoring of haemostasis. In the contrast with many other publications regarding the effectiveness and safety of the drug derived from many clinical studies realized during the development of dabigatran with simultaneous assessment of the risk of the life-threatening bleeding events or thrombosis in patients treated with dabigatran, in this article, the authors will present the review of the available information about its metabolism, pharmacological properties and drug interactions important for the managment of the treatment in risky populations of the patients.

Keywords: dabigatran, metabolism, pharmacological properties, drug and food interactions