Comparison of Ertapenem Distribution in the Muscle of Six Healthy Volunteers and Six Critically Ill Patients by Microdialysis

Ertapenem is an antibiotic that is highly bound to plasma protein (> 95%). The effects of this high protein binding on tissue distribution of antibiotics have been few evaluated yet.

In this study, two groups of subjects will be compared: 6 healthy volunteers and 6 critically ill patients (patients with infection due to an Ertapenem susceptible bacteria). Indeed, these 2 populations show changes in binding capacity of drugs to plasma proteins due to a decrease of protidaemia and of the affinity of drugs to transport proteins.

It seems therefore important to clarify the consequences of a modification in protein binding on distribution of antibiotics. That's why we have decided to characterize tissue distribution of ertapenem in healthy volunteers and critically ill patients by assessing: free and total concentrations in plasma and free concentrations in muscle by microdialysis.