Oral bioavailability of moxifloxacin after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVES Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery is the most commonly performed procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity. This anatomical alteration may affect the absorption and consequently the bioavailability of oral drugs. This study aims to investigate the oral bioavailability of moxifloxacin in 12 healthy volunteers who underwent gastric bypass surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS In this randomized crossover study, each subject received two single standard doses of 400 mg of moxifloxacin orally or intravenously administered on two occasions separated by a washout period of 1 week. Serial venous blood samples were drawn up to 72 h after dosing and moxifloxacin plasma levels were measured by a validated HPLC method with fluorescence detection. [clinicaltrials.gov database (identifier: NCT01130922).] RESULTS After oral dosing, moxifloxacin plasma concentrations reached a maximum (C(max)) of 3.38 ± 1.41 mg/L after 1.75 h (0.75-4.00). After intravenous dosing, C(max) and T(max) were 4.53 ± 1.43 mg/L and 1.03 h (0.75-2.50), respectively. The mean areas under the plasma concentration time curve extrapolated to infinity (AUC(∞)) were 46.2 ± 1.4 mg · h/L after oral dosing and 52.3 ± 1.3 mg · h/L after intravenous dosing, resulting in a mean oral bioavailability of 88.32% [90% confidence interval (CI) 85.64%-91.08%]. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms that exposure to moxifloxacin is equivalent for oral and intravenous administration of 400 mg dosages in healthy volunteers who underwent gastric bypass surgery. But these exposures were more than 50% higher than those described for subjects without gastric bypass. This may suggest a higher enterohepatic recirculation of moxifloxacin after gastric bypass.