Eisai hyperbilirubinemic mutant rats (EHBRs) with conjugated hyperbilirubinemia were recently derived from Sprague-Dawley rats (SDRs). The pharmacokinetic characteristics of the -lactam antibiotic cefpiramide (CPM), which is mainly excreted into bile, were investigated in 10-and 20-week-old EHBRs and were compared with those in 20-week-old healthy SDRs. The pharmacokinetic parameters of CPM after an intravenous administration of 20 mg/kg of body weight were estimated for each rat by noncompartmental methods. When compared with age-matched healthy SDRs, significant decreases (by approximately 30%) in the systemic clearance of CPM were observed in 20-week-old EHBRs. The biliary clearance of CPM in 20-week-old EHBRs markedly decreased to less than 10% of that in age-matched healthy SDRs, while total urinary recovery of unchanged CPM increased to threefold and renal clearance doubled. However, no significant differences in any of the pharmacokinetic parameters of CPM were observed between the two groups of EHBRs. There were no significant differences among the three groups in the steady-state volume of distribution of CPM. The present study indicates that hyperbilirubinemia induces an increase in the urinary excretion ability of CPM in return for a reduction in the biliary excretion.Hyperbilirubinemia in rats is known to modify the pharmacokinetics of certain drugs as a result of the impairment of the process of biliary excretion (13,25,26,30). Hyperbilirubinemic mutant TR Ϫ and GY rats derived from Wistar strain rats have generally been used as experimental animal models for hyperbilirubinemia because they exhibit abnormalities in the biliary excretion of various organic anions and glucuronided and sulfated bile acids, which are similar to the symptoms of DubinJohnson syndrome in humans (8,11,16,24).Eisai hyperbilirubinemic mutant rats (EHBRs), which possess much higher concentrations of conjugated bilirubin in plasma, were derived from Sprague-Dawley rats (SDRs) (7,19). Several investigators have recently reported that hyperbilirubinemia in EHBRs decreases the biliary secretion of various organic anions by impairing the canalicular membrane transport (26,28) and that the canalicular membrane vesicles isolated from EHBRs and TR Ϫ rats lack the ATP-dependent canalicular transport capability of organic anions (6, 9). These observations suggest that the biliary secretory characteristics of organic anions in EHBRs closely resemble those in TR Ϫ and GY rats (6,26,28) and in humans with Dubin-Johnson syndrome (4). Thus, EHBRs can be used as an animal model for studying hyperbilirubinemia in humans.Cefpiramide (CPM), an anionic -lactam antibiotic, exhibits antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, in particular, to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is resistant to several antibiotics. CPM has been shown to be eliminated mainly into the bile in unchanged form by active biliary secretion in both humans and animals (18,22,31), suggesting that CPM could be prescribed as the preferred drug for the ...