RENAL EXCRETION OF GENTAMYCIN IN CHRONIC PYELONEPHRITIS

Abstract

Abstract. The renal handling of gentamycin has been studied in nine patients with chronic pyelonephritis. It was found that the clearance of gentamycin was markedly below the creatinine clearance in eight patients with reduced kidney function, yielding a considerable apparent tubular reabsorption of gentamycin. In one patient with a normal kidney function the amount of apparent reabsorption was negligible, giving an excretion ratio of 0.94. The dependence of log gentamycin clearance on creatinine clearance was found to be highly significant ( p < 0.001). The possibility that gentamycin is fairly inert in relation to tubular function, as has been implied by previous studies in dog and man with normal renal function, seems unlikely. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the apparent reabsorption noted with reduced kidney function in chronic pyelonephritis may be a consequence of a reduced secretion of gentamycin due to tubular damage. An interdependence of log 10 serum half‐life ( T 1/2) of gentamycin and log 10 creatinine clearance ( C er ) was found and expressed by the regression line Y = 1.3416 — 0.4655 x . The relationship between T 1/2 and C er was found to be significant ( P < 0.05).