Use of essential oils to increase bioavailability of oral pharmaceutical compounds

A method for increasing bioavailability of an orally administered hydrophobic pharmaceutical compound, which comprises:

• orally administering said pharmaceutical compound to a mammal in need of treatment with said pharmaceutical compound concurrently with an essential oil or a component of an essential oil in an amount of said essential oil or essential oil component sufficient to provide bioavailability of said pharmaceutical compound in the presence of said essential oil or essential oil component greater than bioavailability of said pharmaceutical compound in the absence of said essential oil or essential oil component, and sufficient to provide a concentration of said essential oil or essential oil component in the lumen of the gut of said mammal of at least 0.1 times a K.sub.i or apparent K.sub.i of the essential oil or essential oil component as measured by an assay that measures reduced conversion of cyclosporine to hydroxylated product in an assay system containing 250 .mu.g rat liver microsomes, 1 .mu.M cyclosporine, anal 1 mM reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) in 1 ml of 0.1M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.4.

A method of formulating an oral pharmaceutical composition, which comprises:

• admixing a pharmaceutical compound, a pharmaceutical carrier, and an essential oil or essential oil component, said essential oil or essential oil component being present in an amount sufficient to provide bioavailability of said pharmaceutical compound in the presence of said essential oil or essential oil component greater than the bioavailability of said pharmaceutical compound in the absence of said essential or oil essential oil component when said pharmaceutical composition is administered orally to a mammal, wherein said essential oil or essential oil component is present in an amount sufficient to provide a concentration of said essential oil or essential oil component in the lumen of the gut of said mammal equal to or greater than a concentration of said essential oil or essential oil component that reduces conversion of cyclosporine to hydroxylated products by 10% in an assay system containing 250 .mu.g rat liver microsomes, 1 .mu.M cyclosporine, and 1 mM NADPH in 1 ml of 0. 1M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.4.

A method of formulating an oral pharmaceutical composition, which comprise:

• admixing a pharmaceutical compound, a pharmaceutical, carrier, and an essential oil or essential oil component, said essential oil or essential oil component being present in an amount sufficient to provide bioavailability of said pharmaceutical compound in the presence of said essential oil or essential oil component greater than the bioavailability of said pharmaceutical compound in the absence of said essential oil or essential oil component when said pharmaceutical composition is administered orally to a mammal, wherein said amount is sufficient to provide a concentration of said essential oil or essential oil component in the lumen of the gut of said mammal of at least 0.1 times said K.sub.i or apparent K.sub.i of said essential oil or essential oil component.