Effect of concomitant food intake on absorption kinetics of erythromycin in healthy volunteers.

The steady state absorption of erythromycin from enteric-coated pellets of erythromycin base was compared with that from enteric-coated tablets in a randomized, two-way cross-over study in 24 healthy adult volunteers. A higher mean individual peak concentration (p less than 0.01), and a greater mean area under the serum concentration-time (0-8 h) curve (AUC, p less than 0.01) was produced by the enteric-coated pellets, when the preparations were administered 1 hour before breakfast. No significant differences in the kinetic parameters between the two preparations were observed when they were taken during a non-standardized breakfast, as concomitant food intake was found to reduce both the peak levels and the AUC-values (p less than 0.01) produced by the pelleted preparation.