Uptake of benzylpenicillin, cefpiramide and cefazolin by freshly prepared rat hepatocytes. Evidence for a carrier-mediated transport system

The kinetics and mechanism of the hepatic uptake of β-lactam antibiotics were studied by using freshly prepared rat hepatocytes. The initial uptake rates of benzylpenicillin and cefpiramide represented both saturable and nonsaturable transport processes, whereas that of cefazolin showed an apparently nonsaturable uptake process within the concentration range below 4mM. The apparent nonsaturable uptake rate constants for benzylpenicillin, cefpiramide and cefazolin were 0.580, 0.047 and 0.289 nmoles/min/mg protein/mM respectively. The apparent values of K_t and V_max describing the saturable transport were 0.473 ± 0.158 mM and 2.02 ± 0.48 nmoles/min/mg protein for benzylpenicillin and 0.847 ± 0.254 mM and 0.70 ± 0.18 nmoles/min/mg protein for cefpiramide respectively. The Arrhenius plot of benzylpenicillin uptake of 200 μM presented a single straight line in the range of 22°-37° with an activation energy of 16.8 kcal/mole. An energy requirement was also demonstrated for benzylpenicillin uptake as metabolic inhibitors (antimycin A, NaCN, rotenone and 2,4-dinitrophenol) significantly reduced the initial uptake rate of benzylpenicillin (P < 0.05). Uptake of benzylpenicillin (200 μM) was not inhibited by ouabain (1 mM). Benzylpenicillin uptake was inhibited competitively by phenoxymethylpenicillin, cefpiramide and cefazolin with the inhibition constants, K_i of 0.680, 0.583 and 11.7 mM respectively. Benzylpenicillin also inhibited competitively the uptake of cefpiramide with a K_i of 0.655 mM. From these results it was considered that a carrier-mediated uptake system participates in the hepatic uptake of at least four of the β-lactam antibiotics examined in this study.