PERSISTENCE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN BLOOD OF PATIENTS WITH ACUTE RENAL FAILURE. I. TETRACYCLINE AND CHLORTETRACYCLINE*†

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Abstract
The half-life of intravenously administered tetracycline in individuals with normal renal function was about 6 to 7 hours when measured by the 2-fold dilution method. With decreasing renal functional capacity as measured by the endogenous creatinine clearance, the half-life was prolonged and markedly so when the creatinine clearance fell below 30 ml/minute; in the anuric patients it was as long as 4 to 5 days. Tetracycline is cleared to a lesser extent than is creatinine or urea by hemodialysis across the artificial kidney; this is presumed to be due to the binding of the antibiotic to the plasma proteins. In contrast to the findings with tetracycline, the half-life of chlortetracycline in serum in patients with severe renal disease is only slightly elevated over normal values, and hemodialysis by the artificial kidney did not result in lowering of the serum levels of this drug.