Biliary elimination of beta-lactam antibiotics by the isolated perfused rabbit liver.

Biliary elimination of 15 beta-lactams was studied using a model of isolated perfused rabbit liver. During the perfusion period, the main liver functions were well preserved. The highest biliary concentrations were reached by antibiotics of the penicillin group, and the highest biliary recovery was observed with metampicillin, apalcillin and mezlocillin (46.5, 30.7 and 20.3%, respectively, of the dose administered). This technique was also suitable for estimating the degree of bio-transformation in the liver of the antibiotics studied.