Effect of ambroxol on the transport of rifampicin into pulmonary

Objective To study the effects of ambroxol on the concentration of rifampicin in rat lungs.Methods The rats were divided into two groups.The rats in group A were intravenously given rifampicin 30mg/kg and those in group B were injected intravenously ambroxol 15mg/kg,which was followed by rifampicin injection at 20min later.The pulmonary tissue samples were collected at 30min,1,2 and 4h after rifampicin injection.Blood samples were taken at 11 time points after rifampicin injection.The concentration of rifampicin in the lung tissue and blood were measured with reverse HPLC-UV.The level and pharkinetics of rifampicin were compared between two groups.ResultsThe concentrations of rifampicin in pulmonary tissue at 1,2 and 4h after rifampicin injection were significantly higher in group B than those in group A [(35.51±5.33)μg/ml vs.(31.82±4.77)μg/ml],[(25.61±4.10)μg/ml vs.(15.21±2.58)μg/ml] and [(13.62±2.45)μg/ml vs.(6.24±1.18)μg/ml](P0.01).There was no significant difference in pharmacokinetics and the concentrations of rifampicin in plasma between two groups.Conclusion Ambroxol can significantly raise the concentration of rifampicin in rat pulmonary tissue,but has no effect on the concentration of rifampicin in plasma and the metabolism of rifampicin.