Cefodizime: enhancement of depressed phagocytosis-associated respiratory burst activity in chronic uremic patients.

Patients with renal failure are highly susceptible to infection, in part because uremia decreases the killing capacity of phagocytic leucocytes. Phagocytosis-associated respiratory burst activity was investigated at different stages of renal impairment by measuring the 14CO2 production during metabolism of labeled glucose by phagocytic cells. Non-dialyzed end-stage renal failure and haemodialysis patients showed a decrease in phagocytosis to about 50% of normal (p less than 0.05). In a second phase of the study, six haemodialysis patients received 2 g cefodizime (CDZ) i.v. after dialysis for ten days (five doses). Phagocytosis was determined at baseline and was followed until day 29. A clear, long-lasting stimulatory effect of CDZ on phagocytosis after both latex and zymosan challenge was found. It is concluded that a usual CDZ dosage regimen stimulates depressed phagocytosis in haemodialysis patients, and that this stimulatory effect persists for at least two weeks after the end of treatment. Uremic patients with infection may benefit from this additional property of CDZ.