Temocillin in peripheral lymph.

One gram of temocillin was given intravenously to five healthy volunteers to study the concentrations in serum and peripheral lymph obtained by cannulation of the lower leg. The 1 h serum level was 58.1 mg/l and the lymph level 14.3 mg/l. The mean peak lymph concentration was 30.6 mg/l and occurred between 1.5 and 2 h; the simultaneous serum level was 47.8 mg/l. The antibiotic levels in lymph were always below those in serum. The urinary recovery over 12 h was nearly 60%. The mean ratio between the areas under the concentration curves of lymph and serum was 0.558. The serum half-life was 4.9 h, the apparent beta-phase distribution volume 18.41. In comparison, the lymph half-life was 4.4 h. Protein binding appears to be of little consequence to the ability of temocillin to penetrate well into extravascular foci.