• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 1992

A prodrug of cefazolin pivaloyloxymethyl ester (CFZ-PV) was synthesized to improve oral absorption and bioavailability of parent drug by esterification of sodium cefazolin (CFZ) with chloromethyl pivalate. The successful synthesis of CFZ-PV was confirmed by spectroscopic analysis. Partition coefficient studies showed that CFZ-PV is more lipophilic than CFZ. The pharmacokinetic characteristics of CFZ-PV and CFZ preparations were compared following oral administrations of these compounds to rabbits. The analysis of CFZ in plasma was conducted by HPLC method. The ester compound (prod rug) was not detected in plasma following oral administration of CFZ-PV, and although CFZ-PV had not microbiological activity in vitro, the plasma taken after CFZ-PV administration had microbiological activity. From above observations, it was noted that CFZ-PV is rapidly hydrolyzed to CFZ in the body. And it was found that the oral absorption of CFZ-PV was increased, yielding 2-fold higher bioavailability than CFZ. From the results of this experiment, it was concluded that CFZ-PV could be a novel prodrug of CFZ which can improve the oral bioavailability of CFZ.