The effects of cefmetazole and latamoxef on platelet function in healthy human volunteers

This study has compared the effects of normal saline (placebo), cefmetazole, and latamoxef (moxalactam) on platelet function in healthy human volunteers. Twenty-nine volunteers were randomized to receive placebo (n = 10), cefmetazole 2 g (n = 9) or latamoxef 2 g (n = 10) intravenously every 6 h for six days. Under double-blind conditions template bleeding time and ex-vivo adenosine diphosphate (ADP) induced platelet aggregation were measured before drug dosing, after the first, ninth, and last drug doses and one and three days after the last drug dose. Latamoxef caused progressive impairment of platelet function with statistically significant increases in the mean bleeding time to 7.4 +/- 3.7 min (P = 0.02) and the amount of ADP (0.2 mM) required to induce 50% platelet aggregation to 77.3 +/- 91.1 microliters (P = 0.03) on day 6 of treatment compared with values before drug administration (4.2 +/- 0.7 min; 3.7 +/- 22 microliters, respectively). These changes were reversible following discontinuation of drug dosing. Cefmetazole and placebo had no significant effects on either measure of platelet function at any time during the study.