ORAL PENICILLIN

Abstract

The early studies on the absorption of penicillin indicated that most of an orally administered dose is probably destroyed by the acidity of the normal stomach. Nevertheless, the small amounts recovered from the urine and the demonstration of activity in the serum suggested that some absorption does take place.¹ When, more recently, doses of 100,000 units were given on an empty stomach, the amounts excreted in the urine were the same as or larger than the quantities usually given in a single intramuscular injection,² suggesting that the oral method is feasible if larger doses are used. A number of antacids, buffers, capsules and oils have been used in attempts to protect the penicillin from the acidity of the stomach. These, as well as substances intended to increase absorption, have given conflicting results.³ Almost all workers found wide variations in absorption by different persons. Although some have suggested