We examined the pharmacokinetics of fluconazole in 11 bone marrow transplant patients after multiple oral daily dose of 200 mg of this drug. Blood was sampled at different intervals on day 1, day 13, and day 27. No dose was given on day 2, day 14, and day 28 to allow the concentration-time data to be collected over 48 hours. The 24 hour urine was also collected, and fluconazole was analyzed in both plasma and urine by a high performance liquid chromatography. The plasma concentration-time data were best described by the one-compartment model with first-order absorption. The overall inter- day change and the difference between day 1 and day 27 in the rate constant for absorption (k0), peak plasma concentration (C(max)), through plasma concentration (C(max)), time-to-peak (t(max)), area-under-the-curve 0-24 (AUC2-4), rate constant for elimination (k0), mean residence time after oral administration (MRT(or)), and fraction of the dose excreted unchanged in urine 24 hours (fu24) were significant (P ≤ 0.0029 and P ≤ 0.01, respectively). However, the difference between day 1 and day 13 was significant (P ≤ 0.05) only in k0, t(max), C(max), C(min), and AUC0-24, and between day 13 and day 27 was significant (P ≤ 0.05) only in k0, C(min), k0 and MRT(or). There was no significant inter-day change in the renal clearance. The significant (P ≤ 0.05) increases in C(max) C(min) and AUC0-24, after the dose given on day 13 as compared with day 1, and in C(min) on day 27 as compared with day 13 indicate that, in contrast to volunteers, the steady state conditions was not reached on day 13 and possibly not on day 27 in these patients. This perhaps should be taken into account when prescribing fluconazole to seriously ill patients.
