[Bactericidal activity of antibiotics as a function of pharmacokinetic constants. II. Effect of pharmacokinetic parameters (C max and Ke) on the bactericidal activity of gentamicin].

The authors studied the influence of certain pharmacokinetic parameters on the bactericidal activity of gentamicin using an experimental model simulating the variations of antibiotic concentration. These parameters are the maximal concentration (C max) and the elimination constant (Ke). The bactericidal activity of gentamicin was studied on the strain of E. coli ATCC 25922. The result is that an influence of C max on the bactericidal activity is more important than that of Ke from these experiments. Considering only bacteriological parameters, the rapid intravenous injection will be superior to slow perfusion. However, the pharmacological parameters must be considered and modify also these conclusions.