[Diffusion of amikacin in the lungs]

Area of Science:

• Pharmacokinetics and Drug Distribution
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Oncology

Context:

• Aminoglycoside antibiotics are crucial for treating bacterial infections.
• Understanding drug penetration into lung tissue is vital for effective treatment of pulmonary infections, especially in cancer patients.
• Previous studies have compared lung tissue distribution of various aminoglycosides.

Purpose:

• To quantify amikacin concentrations in serum and lung parenchyma.
• To evaluate amikacin's diffusion into normal and pathological lung tissue.
• To compare amikacin's lung tissue distribution with dibekacin, tobramycin, and netilmicin.

Summary:

• Ten patients with bronchial carcinoma received intramuscular amikacin (7.5 mg/kg) every 12 hours.
• Serum amikacin concentrations were slightly lower than previously reported.
• Mean lung tissue concentrations were 14.95 µg/g (normal) and 16.18 µg/g (pathological).
• Tissue/serum concentration ratios were similar in normal and pathological parenchyma.
• Amikacin diffusion was parallel in both tissue types, unlike netilmicin which favored normal parenchyma.

Impact:

• Confirms wide distribution of aminoglycosides in lung parenchyma.
• Highlights amikacin's consistent diffusion across different lung tissue types.
• Provides comparative pharmacokinetic data for aminoglycoside selection in lung infections.