Penetration of amphotericin B in human lung tissue after single liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome) infusion

The distribution of amphotericin B in lung tissue was studied in 18 patients with primary or secondary lung cancer who underwent thoracotomy and pulmonary resection. At different times before surgery the patients were treated with liposomal amphotericin B 1.5 mg/kg by i.v. infusion over 1h. Blood and lung tissue samples were collected during surgery (one subject for each collecting time) and assayed for amphotericin B levels by HPLC. Due to surgical requirements, it was possible to obtain data from the 10th to the 25th h after the end of infusion. Plasma amphotericin B concentrations progressively decreased from 3.4 microg/ml at the 10th h to 1 microg/ml at the 25th h after the end of intravenous infusion. In lung tissue samples the lowest amphotericin B concentration (about 1 microg/g) was observed at the 10th h, then a progressive increase was observed with the highest value (2.5 microg/g) determined at the 25th h.