The effect of four different types of diet on the bioavailability of loracarbef.

This randomized open-label single-dose crossover pharmacokinetic study was carried out to assess the effect of different diets on the bioavailability of loracarbef in 24 healthy male volunteers. A single dose of loracarbef in 200-mg tablet form was administered at 5 different times: after overnight fasting, after two vegetarian (high-fat and low-fat) diets, and following two non-vegetarian (high-fat and low-fat) diets. Serial blood samples were collected up to 10 h post-dose. Serum loracarbef concentrations were determined by a validated high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. Area under curve (AUC) values were significantly affected only by non-vegetarian diets; however the time to reach maximum serum concentration (Tmax) was prolonged and the maximum serum concentration (Cmax was decreased by all types of meals. The non-vegetarian diets affected the rate of absorption of loracarbef more than the vegetarian diets. The lowest decrease in Cmax was produced by the high-fat vegetarian diet, while the maximum was produced by the low-fat non-vegetarian diet. The results of this study indicate that while the rate of loracarbef absorption is significantly decreased by all diets, the extent of absorption is only reduced significantly by the non-vegetarian diets. The rate of elimination (k(el)) was not found to be significantly decreased by any of the diets. As compared to the high-fat non-vegetarian diet, the time beyond minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90) concentration was significantly increased by the high-fat vegetarian diet. The implications of these findings for the large Indian vegetarian population are considerable.