A pharmacokinetic study of amphotericin B lipid complex injection (Abelcet) in patients with definite or probable systemic fungal infections

This study describes a pharmacokinetic evaluation of amphotericin B (AMB) l ipid complex injection (ABLC or Abelcet) in 17 patients with systemic funga l infection administered 5 mg/kg of body weight/day by infusion for 10 to 1 7 days. The results showed that AMB exhibited multiexponential disposition with high clearance, large volume of distribution at steady state, and long apparent elimination half-life but no evidence of accumulation in the bloo d after multiple daily doses. The results confirm previous observations and further reinforce the suggestion that ABLC may exist as a depot in the tis sues from which free AMB is slowly released to limit exposure.