Levofloxacin

Abstract

Levofloxacin can be administered in a once-daily regimen as an alternative to other fluoroquinolones in the treatment of infections of the urinary tract, skin and soft tissues. Its more interesting use is as an alternative to established treatments of respiratory tract infections. S. pneumoniae appears to be more susceptible to levofloxacin than to ciprofloxacin or ofloxacin. Other newer fluoroquinolone agents that also have enhanced in vitro antipneumococcal activity may not share the well established tolerability profile of levofloxacin, which also appears to improve on that of some older fluoroquinolones.

Pharmacokinetics, urinary excretion and dosage regimen of levofloxacin following a single intramuscular administration in cross bred calves

“…Approximately 26.6% of the microbiological activity of the administered drug was recovered in the urine of calves within 24 h. These findings suggest that levofloxacin may be an appropriate drug for treating urinary tract infections in cattle. The extent of binding of levofloxacin to the plasma proteins of calves (17.0 ± 1.2%) in the present study was in accordance to the corresponding values of 24-38% for levofloxacin in man [16] and 26% for danofloxacin [11] and 36-45% for enrofloxacin [13] in cattle. On the basis of the present study, the priming and maintenance doses of levofloxacin, at a dosage interval of 12 h, were calculated to be 1.48 and 1.38 mg/kg, respectively, or under field conditions, for most bacteria sensitive to levofloxacin, the most appropriate dosage regimen for levofloxacin, would be 1.5 mg/kg repeated at 12 h intervals for the treatment of respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary tract and other infections in calves.…”

“…As compared to other fluoroquinolones, ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, it also has more pronounced bactericidal activity against organisms like Pseudomonas, Enterobacteriaceae and Klebsiella [15]. The drug is well distributed to target body tissues and fluids in the respiratory tract, skin, urine and prostrate; in addition, its uptake by cells makes it suitable for use against intracellular pathogens [16]. Levofloxacin is metabolized in the liver to demethyl-levofloxacin and levofloxacin-N-oxide and excreted in the urine [16].…”

“…The drug is well distributed to target body tissues and fluids in the respiratory tract, skin, urine and prostrate; in addition, its uptake by cells makes it suitable for use against intracellular pathogens [16]. Levofloxacin is metabolized in the liver to demethyl-levofloxacin and levofloxacin-N-oxide and excreted in the urine [16]. The pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin has been investigated in man [7] and guinea pigs [9].…”

Comparative Pharmacokinetics of Levofloxacin in Healthy and Renal Damaged Muscovy Ducks following Intravenous and Oral Administration

“…Levofloxacin distributes well to target body tissues and fluids in the respiratory tract, skin, urine, and prostrate, and its uptake by cells makes it suitable for use against intracellular pathogens. The drug undergoes limited metabolism in rats and human [5] and is primarily excreted by kidney mainly as active drug. Inactive metabolites (N-oxide and demethyl metabolites) represent <5% of the total dose [6].…”

Simultaneous measurement of pazufloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin in human serum by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

“…Although fluoroquinolones are generally well tolerated [3,4], they cause severe adverse effects such as convulsion-inducing activity in rare cases [5]. The antibiotic activity, efficacy, and tolerability of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin have been evaluated previously [6][7][8][9][10].…”