Abstract
A study on the absorption mechanism of cefixime(CF), an oral ${\alpha}-amino$ group deficient cephalosporin antibiotic, has been undertaken through the rat jejunum and nasal cavity using an in situ simultaneous perfusion technique developed in our laboratory. CF was well absorbed in the jejunum and nasal cavity of rats at pH 5.0, but not at pH 7.0. CF absorption was studied over four orders of magnitude in concentration to determine saturability. Disappearance of CF in the perfusate followed first-order kinetics at all tested concentrations. The apparent first-order absorption rate constant was found to be dependent on the concentration over the range of $0.1\;mM{\sim}3\;mM$ in the jejunum and nasal cavity of rats. Inhibitors were added to determine the competitive inhibition of CF absorption. The presence of L-tyrosine, L-phenylalanine, alanine-alanine, glycine-glycine and cefadroxil produced the significant inhibition of CF absorption in the nasal cavity and jejunum. However, there was no evidence of the inhibition in the presence of cefazolin. In addition, The CF absorption in the nasal cavity and jejunum was inhibited significantly by ouabain and 2,4-dinitrophenol(DNP). This study suggested that CF is absorbed across the rat nasal cavity and jejunum by carrier-mediated transport mechanism and energy consuming system.