[Pharmacokinetics of antibiotics in malnutrition]

Human malnutrition is a complex, multirelated problem. Malnutrition and drug kinetics interaction was never studied in depth, despite the fact that as with antibiotics, medication is more often administered to malnourished than normonourished individuals, because of a higher rate of infection among members of the former group. We have studied the physiological changes resulting from malnutrition, and possible variations such state may have on absorption, distribution, protein binding capacity, drug metabolism and excretion processes in the body, in relation to possible dosage changes. Further studies are required on the effects of malnutrition on drug pharmacokinetics, especially in relation to antibiotics. Such assessment must be performed on different population subsets and under different environmental conditions, so as to obtain improved knowledge on each drug's clinical pharmacokinetics, that coupled with a more sensible way of handling plasma levels and careful patient clinical evaluation will lead to more rational therapy.