Pharmacokinetics of cefatrizine after oral administration in human volunteers.

The oral bioavailability of cefatrizine was studied in four groups, each of ten healthy young male volunteers. Capsules and suspension formulations were each administered at doses of 250 and 500 mg. Both the capsules and suspensions had mean peak plasma levels at 1.6 h at both dose levels. Mean peak plasma levels were 4.1 and 4.3 micrograms/ml for the 250 mg capsule and suspension doses respectively and 7.1 and 7.5 micrograms/ml for the 500 mg capsules and suspension doses respectively. The overall mean half-life was 1.7 h. For both types of formulations and at both dose levels 63-65% of the doses were excreted in the urine as intact cefatrizine, 85% of this amount within 8 h. The overall mean renal clearance was 157 ml/min. The cefatrizine capsule and suspension formulations were completely bioequivalent in regard to both rate and extent of bioavailability. Plasma concentrations and urinary recoveries of cefatrizine were higher than those previously reported, due to precautions taken in sample collection and storage.