Penetration of meropenem into human pancreatic juice

Abstract

This study examined the penetration of meropenem into pancreatic juice in patients who had undergone hepato-biliary-pancreatic surgery. The patients received a 0.5-h infusion of 500 mg meropenem. The observed maximum concentration (mean ± standard deviation, n = 5) was 39.1 ± 11.2 μg/ml at 0.5 h in plasma and 2.12 ± 0.73 μg/ml at 1.10 ± 0.14 h in pancreatic juice. The pancreatic juice/plasma ratio was 0.06 ± 0.02. The area under the drug concentration–time curve was 73.0 ± 37.5 μg•h/ml in plasma and 4.24 ± 2.77 μg•h/ml in pancreatic juice. The pancreatic juice/plasma ratio was 0.06 ± 0.01. The mean drug-exposure times above 0.125 μg/ml and 0.25 μg/ml (the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for common pathogens) in pancreatic juice were 99.4% and 87.3%, respectively, for 500 mg meropenem 3 times daily. This commonly used regimen for pancreatitis achieved the drug-exposure time target (40% of the time above the MIC) at the action site, despite the low penetrability of meropenem.

Keywords::

• Carbapenem
• pharmacokinetics
• pharmacodynamics

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. No funding was received.