Improvement of lipophilicity and membrane transport of cefuroxime using in vitro models.

Most beta-lactam antibiotics cannot be absorbed orally and, therefore, must be administered intravenously (i.v.) or intramuscularly (i.m.). Because of the obvious drawbacks of drug delivery by injection, the development of alternatives with enhanced oral bioavailability is receiving much attention in pharmaceutical research. Cefuroxime exhibiting significant advantages in the parental treatment of common infections, was used as model drug in the present study. The effect of the cationic absorption enhancers (four quaternary ammonium salts) on the lipophilicity of cefuroxime was investigated by means of the n-octanol/water system. The results on partitioning coefficients in the n-octanol/buffer system were confirmed using an in vitro transport model with artificial (dodecanol collodium membrane) and biological membranes (Charles-River guinea pig).