Cefotiam disposition in markedly obese athlete patients, Japanese sumo wrestlers

Markedly obese athletes like Japanese sumo wrestlers may frequently suffer various traumas which result in the prophylaxis or treatment of posttraumatic infection with antibiotics. However, appropriate dosage regimens in this group of patients have not been fully known for many antibiotics. Therefore, we studied the kinetic disposition of cefotiam, a parenteral, broad-spectrum cephalosporin with activity against gram-positive and -negative bacteria, after an intravenous dose (2 g) infused over 30 min into 15 sumo wrestler patients with an excess body weight (130 to 220% of ideal body weight) and 10 control patients with a normal weight (90 to 102% of ideal body weight). Mean (+/- standard deviation) clearance and steady-state volume of distribution were significantly greater in the sumo wrestler than in the control group (38.3 +/- 9.4 versus 23.5 +/- 6.0 liters/h, P less than 0.001, and 30.2 +/- 8.0 versus 17.9 +/- 6.1 liters, P less than 0.001). Mean elimination half-life was slightly but significantly longer in the sumo wrestler than in the control group (0.91 +/- 0.14 versus 0.74 +/- 0.20 h, P less than 0.05). However, mean residence time did not differ between the two groups (0.79 +/- 0.10 versus 0.75 +/- 0.14 h). The statistical differences in clearance and volume of distribution between the two groups disappeared when these kinetic parameters were corrected for body surface area, but not for total body weight or ideal body weight. The results suggest that the dosage calculation of cefotiam, a hydrophilic antibiotic, should be made on the basis of body surface area in morbidly obese athlete or sumo wrestler patients. However, whether this recommendation should extend to other nonathlete obese subjects remains to be determined.