SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUE DISTRIBUTION OF VANCOMYCIN FROM A FIBRIN GLUE DACRON GRAFT CARRIER/

We investigated the tissue distribution of vancomycin (VCM) incorporat ed in fibrin glue (FG) in a rat model. One VCM-loaded FG Dacron graft (VCM-FG, VCM 0.6 mg/graft) was implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of the anterior abdominal wall of each rat. VCM was injected intravenous ly at an equal dose (0.6 mg/rat) after implantation of one control gra ft (without VCM-FG). After the implantation and the iv injection of an equal dose of VCM (0.6 mg/rat), the tissue distribution of VCM for up to 24 h was determined through analysis of the implanted VCM-FG graft s, which releasd VCM over a 24 h period. The area under the VCM concen tration-time curve (AUG) of the tissue was 89.58 mu g.h/g after the im plantation of the VCM-FG graft, and 7.40 mu g.h/g after the iv injecti on of VCM, respectively. The targeting index of the tissue, defined as the ratio of AUC after the implantation of the VCM-FG graft to that a fter VCM iv injection, was 12.11. None of the six VCM-FG Dacron grafts after implantation became infected following inoculation with S. aure us ATCC 25923 (0.1 mt 10(8) CFU/mL). These results suggest that this V CM-FG Dacron graft delivery may be useful in preventing local infectio n by enhancing the delivery of VCM to the local areas of the implanted site in rats. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.