Intestinal elimination of ciprofloxacin in rabbits.

The intestinal transepithelial elimination of ciprofloxacin was studied in a rabbit model. Jejunal, ileal, and cecal segments along with their intact blood vessels were isolated and perfused, and their contents were collected over a 120-min period following administration of a single parenteral dose of 27 mg of ciprofloxacin per kg of body weight. The intestinal elimination rates of ciprofloxacin were 0.126 +/- 0.084, 0.235 +/- 0.22, and 0.11 +/- 0.084 micrograms.min-1.cm-2 for the jejunal, ileal, and cecal segments, respectively. The calculated fractions of ciprofloxacin eliminated were 3.3 mg from the jejunum and 13.8 mg from the ileum, representing 19% of the administered dose. Additional amounts of 2.5 to 3.7 mg or 4.9 to 7.3% of the administered dose were eliminated from the cecum. Elimination was probably not due to a passive diffusion process but rather due to an active transepithelial transport. This intestinal elimination pattern of ciprofloxacin may explain the unusual activity of the fluoroquinolones in modifying the intestinal flora.