Comparable bioavailability and disposition of pefloxacin in patients with cystic fibrosis and healthy volunteers assessed via population pharmacokinetics

Quinolone antibiotics present an attractive oral treatment option in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Prior studies have reported comparable clearances and volumes of distribution in patients with CF and healthy volunteers for primarily renally cleared quinolones. We aimed to provide the first pharmacokinetic comparison for pefloxacin as a predominantly nonrenally cleared quinolone and its two metabolites between both subject groups. Eight patients with CF (fat-free mass [FFM]: 36.3 ± 6.9 kg, average ± SD) and ten healthy volunteers (FFM: 51.7 ± 9.9 kg) received 400 mg pefloxacin as a 30 min intravenous infusion and orally in a randomized, two-way crossover study. All plasma and urine data were simultaneously modelled. Bioavailability was complete in both subject groups. Pefloxacin excretion into urine was approximately 74% higher in patients with CF compared to that in healthy volunteers, whereas the urinary excretion of metabolites was only slightly higher in patients with CF. After accounting for body size and composition via allometric scaling by FFM, pharmacokinetic parameter estimates in patients with CF divided by those in healthy volunteers were 0.912 for total clearance, 0.861 for nonrenal clearance, 1.53 for renal clearance, and 0.916 for volume of distribution. Nonrenal clearance accounted for approximately 90% of total pefloxacin clearance. Overall, bioavailability and disposition were comparable between both subject groups.