Effect of calcium carbonate on bioavailability of orally administered gemifloxacin

We investigated the effect of calcium carbonate on the oral bioavailability of gemifloxacin. Gemifloxacin was administered alone, 2 h before, simultaneously, or 2 h after calcium carbonate in 16 volunteers. Data for 320 mg of gemifloxacin alone were as follows: maximum concentration of drug in serum (C(max)),13 microg/ml; half-life, 7.33 h; and area under the concentration-time curve from 0 h to infinity (AUC( infinity )), 6.79 microg. h/ml. Only simultaneous coadministration of calcium carbonate reduced C(max) (-17%) and AUC( infinity ) (-21%) significantly.