Effect of probenecid on the pharmacokinetics of cefmenoxime

In this study, we were concerned with the effect of probenecid on the pharmacokinetics of 1,000 mg of cefmenoxime administered over a 30-min period by intravenous infusion. Each of a total of 10 subjects received cefmenoxime twice, once with and once without adjunctive probenecid. The data were fit by iterative nonlinear regression procedures to a two-compartment open pharmacokinetic model, with elimination from the central compartment. The mean calculated peak concentration, area under the curve from zero to infinity, and half-life without probenecid were 78.1 micrograms/ml, 77.2 micrograms . h/ml, and 1.14 h, respectively. When cefmenoxime was administered with probenecid, these values were 86.7 micrograms/ml, 158.2 micrograms . h/ml, and 1.78 h, respectively. Averages of about 55 and 46% of the administered doses were recovered in urine samples collected at 0 through 24 h for doses administered without and with probenecid, respectively. The mean corrected renal drug clearance was 159 and 66 ml/min without and with probenecid, respectively. Statistical significance (P less than 0.05) was demonstrated for the differences in beta half-life, (K/net), calculated peak concentration, area under the curve from 0 to infinity, and renal clearance, but not for K21, K12, volume of distribution, or alpha-phase distribution rate constant. The results of this study indicate that tubular secretion is the predominant mechanism of clearance for cefmenoxime and that probenecid alters the pharmacokinetics of the compound by competitively inhibiting its tubular secretion without affecting either the rate or the extent of its distribution.