Physiological perfusion model for cephalosporin antibiotics I: Model selection based on blood drug concentrations

Various cephalosporins with different degrees of protein binding were administered to human volunteers. Blood samples were collected as a function of time and were assayed for drug content by a microbiological assay. A pharmacokinetic analysis of the data was performed using a two-compartment model with and without protein binding in the central compartment and a perfusion model. Both the two-compartment model without protein binding and the physiological perfusion model adequately described the blood levels of all three cephalosporins.