title: Time-dependent inhibition of theophylline elimination by erythromycin stearate.
abstract: The effect of erythromycin stearate at a dose of 1 g daily on theophylline disposition was studied in six healthy adult males. The mean value of 5.46 h for the theophylline half-life after 48 h pretreatment with erythromycin stearate was not significantly different from the control value of 5.24 h. The half-life value of 8.48 h after a 1-week course of the antibiotic, however, represented a significant increase (p less than 0.005). Theophylline disposition 1 week after the last dose of the antibiotic was not significantly different from the control. It is suggested that therapeutic doses of erythromycin stearate for a week or more could impair the disposition of concurrently administered theophylline. The impairment however, is reversible, being absent a week after the last antibiotic dose.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001711:Biotransformation; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D013806:Theophylline / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004917:Erythromycin; D013806:Theophylline; C011462:erythromycin stearate