We studied the action of nifedipine on the bioavailablity of cefixime, a molecule absorbed via the gut wall dipeptide carrier system in the rat, and on the bioavailability of D-xylose, which is absorbed via a pH (and Na+-)-dependent transporter. Each compound was administered alone or in combination with 20 mg of nifedipine to eight healthy male volunteers. Nifedipine significantly increased the absorption rate of cefixime (20.7 + 4.3 versus 16 ± 3.5 mg/h in the absence of nifedipine). The absolute bioavailability of cefixime alone was 31% ± 6% compared with 53% ± 1% (P < 0.01) in the presence of nifedipine. The observed peak concentrations in serum were significantly different (2.5 ± 0.3 mg/liter without nifedipine and 3.7 ± 1.1 mg/liter with nifedipine; P < 0.02). In contrast, nifedipine induced no significant differences in the pharmacokinetic profile of xylose following oral administration. We conclude that (i) cefixime is absorbed in humans by an apparently active process which can be enhanced by a calcium channel blocker, in this case, nifedipine; and (ii) nifedipine does not modify the activity of the pentose transporter.Cefixime was the first broad-spectrum oral cephalosporin to be marketed. It is characterized by the presence of two nonesterified carboxylic functions and by its stability to acid hydrolysis, which is due to the presence of a vinyl group on the cephem nucleus (12).Intestinal absorption of cefixime in the rat occurs by an active mechanism involving a pH-dependent dipeptide transporter similar to that of amoxicillin (14-16). The transporter is saturable and is inhibited by glycyl-L-proline and glycyl-L-glycine. The same mechanism has been hypothesized by Lowther et al. (9), who studied human brush border membrane vesicles. Recent studies in healthy volunteers have shown that nifedipine increases both the absorption rate and the bioavailability of amoxicillin without modifying its distribution or elimination (18). This may be explained by a direct stimulation of drug uptake, as the decrease in intracellular calcium levels increases transmembrane Na+-H+ ion exchanges, resulting in increased intraenterocyte pH, which in turn increases the activity of the transporter (18).Since animal studies have shown that the transport systems for cefixime and amoxicillin are the same (15), we assessed the absorption rate of cefixime and the influence of nifedipine on the intestinal absorption kinetics and bioavailability of cefixime in healthy volunteers.In order to identify the specificity of the interaction, we studied the action of nifedipine on the uptake of a pentose (D-xylose), which, when administered at the dose of 5 g, is absorbed via a pH (and Na+-)-dependent transporter (4,8 Protocol. The protocol was divided into two phases, cefixime-nifedipine and D-xylose-nifedipine, and the same subjects were used in both.(i) Phase 1: cefixime-nifedipine. The protocol for phase 1 was similar to that used by Westphal et al. (18) and involved oral administration followed by i.v. administration. In the study of ...