Bioavailability of tetracycline and doxycycline in fasted and nonfasted subjects

The influence of various test meals and fluid volumes on the relative bioavailability of commercial formulations of doxycycline hyclate and tetracycline hydrochloride was studied in healthy human volunteers. Serum levels of tetracycline were uniformly reduced by approximately 50% by all test meals, whereas serum levels of doxycycline were reduced by 20%. The reduction of tetracycline serum levels will likely be of clinical significance. The bioavailability of each drug was almost identical from an oral solution and from capsules in fasted subjects. The rate of doxycycline absorption was reduced when capsules were administered with a small volume of water, but the overall efficiency of absorption of both drugs was essentially independent of co-administered fluid volume. The use of 8-h serum data provides a reliable estimate of drug bioavailability for tetracycline and, to a lesser extent, for doxycycline.