Ofloxacin: serum and skin blister fluid pharmacokinetics in the fasting and non-fasting state

: Using an agar well diffusion assay, the concentrations of ofloxacin were measured in serum and skin blister fluid after an oral dose of 300 mg given with or without a standardized meal. The apparent lag time was longer when the drug was taken with food than in the fasting state and the serum peak concentrations occurred later; the rates of absorption being 1.72 +/- 1.12/h (S.D.) and 3.40 +/- 1.56/h respectively. The mean peak concentrations of each individual in serum and blister fluid were 3.8 +/- 1.6 mg/l and 1.7 +/- 0.5 mg/l, respectively, when the drug was taken with food, compared with 4.2 +/- 1.9 mg/l and 2.1 +/- 0.7 mg/l in the fasting state. The rate of penetration into blister fluid was not influenced by the intake of food. The elimination half-life was 9.0 +/- 6.2 h in serum and 13.5 +/- 7.8 h in blister fluid when the volunteers were fasting. The corresponding values in the non-fasting state were 6.3 +/- 5.5 h and 10.6 +/- 4.6 h. The ratio of the area under the concentration versus time curve (AUC0-infinity) for blister fluid and serum was 1.20 +/- 0.70 when ofloxacin was given without food and 1.03 +/- 0.34 when given with the meal.