A study of the interaction between ropranolol and NSAIDs in protein binding by gel filtration method.

Drug protein binding phenomena can lead to some interesting drug-drug interactions when one drug displaces another in the binding site. Studies of protein binding are conducted by several methods including equilibrium dialysis, ultra-filtration and chromatographic methods. Gel filtration is a simple chromatographic method in protein binding studies. Propranolol binds to plasma proteins by 90%-95% in circulation system and other drugs with high protein binding may displace it. In this study protein binding of propranolol has been studied using gel filtration to Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) alone and in the presence of Acetyl salicylic acid (ASA), Indomethacin and mefenamic acid has been studied using gel filtration method. The results indicated that ASA decreased protein binding of propranolol by 20% to BSA and other drugs did not displace propranolol from the binding site. Therefore, ASA may alter pharmacological effects of propranolol.