Clinical and chemical interactions between iron preparations and ciprofloxacin

1. The effect of ferrous sulphate (300 mg), ferrous gluconate (600 mg), and a combination tablet of iron (10 mg), magnesium (100 mg), zinc (15 mg), calcium (162 mg), copper (2 mg), and manganese (5 mg) (Centrum Forte) co-administration on ciprofloxacin bioavailability was tested in eight healthy subjects. 2. Peak serum ciprofloxacin concentrations and area under the curve (AUC) were significantly reduced when ciprofloxacin was administered with 300 mg ferrous sulphate (3.0 vs 2.0 mg l-1, P less than 0.05 and 12.3 vs 6.7 mg l-1 h, P less than 0.01, respectively). Reductions in peak ciprofloxacin concentrations and AUC also occurred when ciprofloxacin was ingested with 600 mg ferrous gluconate (1.3 mg l-1, P less than 0.01 and 4.1 mg l-1 h, P less than 0.01, respectively) and a Centrum Forte tablet (1.4 mg l-1, P less than 0.01 and 5.4 mg l-1 h, P less than 0.01, respectively). 3. When ferrous ion was mixed with ciprofloxacin, rapid spectral changes occurred (t1/2 = 1.9 min). Additional studies were consistent with oxidation of the ferrous form of iron to its ferric form, which is followed by rapid formation of a Fe(3+)-ciprofloxacin complex. Ciprofloxacin seems to bind to ferric ion in a ratio of 3:1 by interacting with the 4-keto and 3-carboxyl groups on ciprofloxacin. 4. The formation of a ferric ion-ciprofloxacin complex is probably the cause of the reduction in ciprofloxacin bioavailability in the presence of iron.