Objective: To investigate the
pharmacokinetic characteristic of vancomycin in healthy elderly and young volunteers. Methods;
All the volunteers were administered with vancomycin 1.0 g intravenously. Bioassay was used to determine the serum and urine concentrations of the drug. The differences of
pharmacokinetic parameters between elderly and young groups were analysed. Results; In both groups, serum concentration-versus-time data were fitted to a two-compartment model. Pharmacokinetic parameters of elderly and young groups were; total clearance (CLt) of vancomycin (61.05± 10.30) ml/min and (87.35±9.45) ml/min,
respectively; elimination half life (t1/2β) of vancomycin (8.34± 1.06) h and (4.09±0. 33) h, AUC of vancomycin (280.30±48. 90) h·mg/L and (192.78±20.23) h·mg/L , respectively. The differences between eldery and young groups were found to be statistically significant (P<0.01). Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated a lower clearance, longer elimination half life and an increased AUC of vancomycin in the elderly. When vancomycin is administered in elderly patients, the dose should be reduced or the dosage interval should be extended and therapeutic drug momitoring (TDM) is also required.