Absolute bioavailability of cefprozil after oral administration in beagles

The absolute bioavailability of cefprozil, a new oral cephalosporin, in four beagles was evaluated. In this two-way crossover study, each dog received a 125-mg dose of cefprozil either as an oral aqueous solution or as a 15-min intravenous infusion. A high-performance liquid chromatographic assay with UV detection was employed for the determination of cefprozil concentrations in plasma and urine. Key pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by noncompartmental methods. Cefprozil was well absorbed after oral administration, and peak concentrations of 17.6 to 26.6 micrograms/ml were attained at 60 min after drug administration. The apparent elimination half-life of cefprozil was about 70 min. The renal clearance was about 60% of total body clearance and is suggestive of significant nonrenal clearance. The absolute bioavailability of cefprozil ranged from 67.1 to 79.1% in the dogs.