Losartan, a selective angiotensin II (AT1) receptor antagonist for hypertension, is metabolized to an active carboxylic acid metabolite, E-3174, which has a longer half-life. To investigate the effects of induction of cytochrome P450 on the metabolism of losartan, we evaluated the effects of phenobarbital on the plasma profiles of losartan and E-3174 in 15 healthy male subjects. Ten subjects received a single 100 mg oral dose of losartan before and during phenobarbital administration (100 mg/day for 16 days), and five subjects received losartan before and during placebo. Urinary excretion of 6-beta-hydroxycortisol (relative to 17-hydroxycorticosteroids) was measured as an endogenous marker of cytochrome P450 induction. The geometric mean area under the plasma concentration-time curve ratios (with/without phenobarbital and 90% confidence intervals) for losartan and its metabolite (E-3174) were 0.795 (0.723, 0.875) and 0.799 (0.778, 0.820), respectively, indicating that phenobarbital treatment significantly but to a clinically minor extent reduced plasma concentrations of losartan and E-3174 (p<0.01). Half-life values of losartan and E-3174 were unchanged. The ratio of 6-beta-hydroxycortisol to 17-hydroxycorticosteroids doubled in the phenobarbital group (p < 0.001) and did not change appreciably in the placebo group.