Analysis of ceftriaxone and ceftazidime distribution in cerebrospinal fluid of and cerebral extracellular space in awake rats by in vivo microdialysis.

In vivo microdialysis was used to estimate the extracellular concentrations of ceftazidime and ceftriaxone, two expanded-spectrum cephalosporins commonly used in the treatment of bacterial meningitis, in two brain regions (the right corpus striatum and the left lateral ventricle_ of awake, freely moving rats. Antibiotics were administered by constant intravenous infusion at 18 mg/h until steady-state levels were reached. Ceftriaxone levels measured at the steady state in the extracellular space of the corpus striatum (0.80 +/- 0.17 micrograms/ml) were statistically equivalent to those obtained in the cerebrospinal fluid of the lateral ventricle (0.71 +/- 0.15 micrograms/ml). The ratios of these levels in the brain to the steady-state levels in plasma were 0.5 +/- 0.1% for both regions. The postinfusion concentrations of ceftriaxone in the brain declined monoexponentially, with an elimination half-life similar to that obtained in plasma. However, the mean antibiotic concentration of ceftazidime in the striatum (2.2 +/- 0.4 micrograms/ml) was lower (P < 0.001) than that in the lateral ventricle (3.8 +/- 0.5% and 4.0 +/- 1.8%, respectively) were higher than those obtained with ceftriaxone. Moreover, the half-life of ceftazidime elimination from plasma was lower than that obtained in the two brain regions. It was concluded that the in vivo microdialysis technique yields useful data on antibiotic distribution in the extracellular space of the brain, that the distribution may not be homogeneous, and that the decay of postinfusion concentrations in the brain may be different from the decay of postinfusion concentrations in plasma.