Relationships between the antimicrobial activities of sulfonamides and physicochemical properties including the acid dissociation constant (pKa) and the hydrophobicity constant (pi) were determined. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of sulfonamides against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, a gram-negative veterinary pathogen, were used. High performance liquid chromatography was applied for the determination of the electronic and hydrophobic parameters. Empirically determined relationships pointed out the dominant role of the degree of ionization on the antimicrobial activity. The data indicate that hydrophobic properties of sulfonamides, characterized by pi, are of minor importance for the in vitro antibacterial activity. Because of the restricted pKa range (4.9-7.7) it could not be established whether the relationship between pKa and activity was linear or bilinear. Whenever o,m-disubstituted sulfonamides were included correlations decreased substantially. Relationships based on multicompartment equilibrium models were derived and indicated a bilinear relation between pKa and MIC. Model-based equations showed that the antibacterial activity was governed by the extracellular ionic concentration of the sulfonamides whenever different intra and extracellular pH values were assumed in the equilibrium model. The antimicrobial activities of the sulfonamides against gram-positive organisms were also related to the degree of ionization of the sulfonamides in the agar medium.

The pharmacokinetics were studied of sulfadimethoxine (SDM) or sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in combination with trimethoprim (TMP) administered as a single oral dose (25 mg + 5 mg per kg body weight) to two groups of 6 healthy pigs. The elimination half-lives of SMX and TMP were quite similar (2-3 h); SDM had a relatively long half-life of 13 h. Both sulfonamides (S) were exclusively metabolized to N4-acetyl derivatives but to different extents. The main metabolic pathway for TMP was O-demethylation and subsequent conjugation. In addition, the plasma concentrations of these drugs and their main metabolites after medication with different in-feed concentrations were determined. The drug (S:TMP) concentrations in the feed were 250:50, 500:100, and 1000:200 mg per kg. Steady-state concentrations were achieved within 48 h of feed medication, twice daily (SDM+TMP) or three times a day (SMX+TMP). Protein binding of SDM and its metabolite was high (>93%), whereas SMX, TMP and their metabolites showed moderate binding (48-75%). Feed medication with 500 ppm sulfonamide combined with 100 ppm TMP provided minimum steady-state plasma concentrations (C(ss,min)) higher than the concentration required for inhibition of the growth of 90% of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae strains (n = 20).