Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
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Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. · Jan 1995
Comparative StudyPharmacokinetics of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in critically ill and non-critically ill AIDS patients.
Current dosage regimens of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole used to treat Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS patients have been based on data from healthy subjects or patients without AIDS. The clearance and absorption characteristics of the drugs may potentially be different between patients with and without AIDS. This study was conducted to assess the pharmacokinetics of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in critically ill and non-critically ill AIDS patients treated for P. carinii pneumonia. ⋯ Absorption appeared to be similar between the critically ill and non-critically patients: bioavailability was 97.5% +/- 22.4% versus 101.8% +/- 22.7% for trimethoprim and 86.2% +/- 17.9% versus 99.1% +/- 20.5% for sulfamethoxazole, respectively. Because of the similar pharmacokinetics of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in critically ill and non-critically ill AIDS patients, the two groups of patients may receive similar dosages. Dosage adjustment does not appear to be required when switching from the intravenous to the oral route.