Relevance of in vitro antibacterial activities and pharmacokinetic properties of antipseudomonal .BETA.-lactam antibiotics to their therapeutic effects on urinary tract infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa P 9 in mice.

The therapeutic effects of seven antipseudomonal beta-lactam antibiotics on experimental urinary tract infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa P 9 in mice were compared, and the results were analyzed in relation to their in vitro antibacterial activities and pharmacokinetic properties. The CD50 values were (mg/kg): cefsulodin, 6.19; cefoperazone, 162; sulbenicillin, 167; ticarcillin, 184; azlocillin, 121; mezlocillin, 390; and piperacillin, 227. Cefsulodin was more active than the other antibiotics not only in therapeutic effects but also in in vitro antibacterial effects evaluated according to growth inhibitory, bactericidal, and bacteriolytic activities. It also penetrated and persisted well in the kidney of mice. The therapeutic effects of cefoperazone, azlocillin, and piperacillin were much less than expected from their in vitro antibacterial activities; the CD50 values were more than 18-fold as large as that of cefsulodin, whereas the differences of their MIC values were less than four-fold.