Bioavailability of metronidazole from sugar-coated tablets in humans. II. Evaluation of beagle dogs as an animal model

Abstract The bioavailability of metronidazole from five sugar-coated tablets exhibiting different dissolution behaviors relative to pH was determined in beagle dogs, and compared with that in humans administered the same preparations. The gastric pH of beagle dogs, which was determined after collecting the gastric fluid through a catheter inserted into the stomach, ranged in pH from 1.8 to 7.8. From statistical analysis of C max and AUC 0–24 , it was concluded that gastric acidity definitely affects the bioavailability of metronidazole from sugar-coated tablets. The relative values of C max and AUC 0–24 , compared with those of the tablet exhibiting the highest values, ranked similarly between corresponding gastric acidity groups of beagle dogs and humans. A significant correlation was shown between AUC 0–24 for beagle dogs and humans having low gastric acidity ( P