ADMINISTRATION OF PENICILLIN BY MOUTH

Abstract

Many attempts have been made to administer penicillin effectively by mouth. Abraham and his co-workers,¹in 1941 reported unsatisfactory results even when the penicillin was protected by a coating of phenyl salicylate but found that, when given through a duodenal tube, detectable levels were present in the blood for three hours. Herrell, Heilman and Williams²in 1942 stated that penicillin was destroyed by the acid of the stomach but that some absorption occurred when sodium bicarbonate was given conjointly. Powell and Jamieson³also reported that penicillin cured staphylococcic infections in mice when given in combination with sodium bicarbonate. Rammelkamp and his co-workers,⁴in two papers in 1943 confirmed the impression that oral administration was unsatisfactory, although duodenal absorption occurred, and showed that patients with achlorhydria absorbed the drug fairly satisfactorily. The Floreys⁵tested cellulose hydrogen acetate phthalate as an enteric coating but found that, while