PENETRATION OF FLUCONAZOLE INTO GYNECOLOGICAL TISSUES

The penetration of fluconazole into female genital tissue was examined in this study in which fluconazole was administered intravenously for 60 minutes at a dose of 200mg to patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy, at 1 to 51 hours prior to surgery. During surgery, the b lood, uterus, ovary and oviduct were sampled, and the fluconazole conc entrations in each tissue were determined by high-performance liquid c hromatography. The peak serum concentrations reached approximately 6.1 mg/L 1 hour after beginning the drip infusion. At each time after the infusion, the concentrations in the portio vaginalis, cervix uteri, m yometrium, endometrium, ovary and oviduct were higher than those in th e serum: the peak concentrations in tissue ranged from 6.4 to 9.5 mu g /g about 1 hour after beginning the drip infusion. Thus, the penetrati on of fluconazole into gynaecological tissue appeared to be similar to or slightly higher than those in serum samples. Fluconazole can rapid ly penetrate from plasma into the female genital organs, supporting th e high efficacy of fluconazole against gynaecological fungal infection s.