Effects of beta-lactam antibiotics on the acetaldehyde-metabolizing system in germ-free rats.

Effects of several beta-lactam antibiotics on the acetaldehyde-metabolizing system were studied using germ-free rats. Administration of cefamandole (CMD) to the rats caused a decrease in liver mitochondrial low Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and an increase in blood acetaldehyde level during ethanol metabolism, similar to the case in conventional rats. Oral administration of CMD produced a pronounced increase in blood acetaldehyde level compared to the subcutaneous administration of the antibiotic. When the animals were given various beta-lactam antibiotics subcutaneously, only the antibiotics having an N-methyltetrazolylthiomethyl group at the 3-position of the cephalosporin nucleus exhibited the disulfiram-like effects on the acetaldehyde-metabolizing system. The results indicate that intestinal bacteria do no participate in the development of the disulfiram-like reaction of several beta-lactam antibiotics.