In vivo pharmacodynamic evaluation of clarithromycin in comparison to erythromycin

The efficacy of various dosing regimens of clarithromycin and erythromycin against recently isolated Streptococcus pneumoniae strains was determined in vivo using two animal infection models (mouse peritonitis and thigh infection). For the thigh infection model, mice received a total dose of 4 mg/Kg of either clarithromycin or erythromycin, as a single total dose or divided into 2, 4 or 8 doses/24h. After 24h of therapy S. pneumoniae organisms were killed at 2.06 to 4.03 log10 CFU/thigh by clarithromycin and the one- or two-dose regimens were significantly more effective than the four- or eight-dose regimens. Organism killing following 24h of therapy with erythromycin ranged from 1.13 to 2.31 log10 CFU/thigh, with the one- or two-dose regimens significantly less effective than the four- or eight-dose regimens. In the mouse survival study, the same dose of either clarithromycin or erythromycin was given as a single total dose or divided into two or four doses with dosing intervals of 4 and 2-times the t1/2 respectively. The results obtained in this model show that there is a significant difference in survival when clarithromycin is administered less frequently (4% deaths for the one-dose regimen in comparison to 40% deaths with the four-dose regimen, P < 0.01, Chi-square test). With erythromycin there was a trend for increased survival with the multiple-dose regimen, with significantly higher survival when concentrations exceeding the MIC were maintained for a longer time period. These results indicate that the time during which serum concentrations exceeding the MIC value of the pathogen is an important parameter for efficacy for erythromycin. On the contrary, results with both animal models demonstrate that bacterial killing and survival are significantly higher among clarithromycin-treated mice when the antibiotic is administered less frequently and the highest Cmax/MIC ratio is achieved.