Cefuroxime
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2007) |
 | |
| Clinical data | |
|---|---|
| Pregnancy category |
|
| Routes of administration | oral, intramuscular, intravenous |
| ATC code | |
| Legal status | |
| Legal status | |
| Pharmacokinetic data | |
| Bioavailability | 37% on empty stomach, up to 52% if taken after food |
| Metabolism | axetil moiety is metabolized to acetaldehyde and acetic acid |
| Elimination half-life | 80 minutes |
| Excretion | Urine 66-100% Unchanged |
| Identifiers | |
| |
| CAS Number | |
| PubChem CID | |
| DrugBank | |
| CompTox Dashboard (EPA) | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.054.127 |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C16H16N4O8S |
| Molar mass | 424.386 g/mol g·mol−1 |
Cefuroxime is a second-generation cephalosporin antibiotic that has been widely available in the USA since 1977. It is also available under the brand name Ceftin. Glaxo Smith Kline sells the antibiotic in Australia (and other countries, such as Cyprus, Israel and Poland) under the name Zinnat[2], with the Australian pharmaceutical code of R 47621. In the Philippines, a brand name Shincef has been used. In Poland it is also produced by the Polish firm Bioton S.A. under the name Biofuroksym.[3] In Cyprus, the box of the 500mg tablets is white with a wide red stripe on the left and contains two blister cards of seven. The tablets are long white and are marked "GX EG2". The Cypriot license for this is 16847. The 250mg tablets come in a similar box with a blue stripe.
According to the package insert supplied with Zinnat, cefuroxime is manufactured as tablets, as a powder to be mixed with water and ingested, as well as a sodium salt, the latter designed for medical injection. The Biofuroksym form of cefuroxime is designed for injection by a person with medical training.
Brands
- Ceftum (Allenburys)
- Kefstar (Wockhardt)
- Cefteja (Quadra)
- Altacef (Glenmark)
- Cetil (Lupin)
- Forcef (Aristo), India
- Zinacef, (Glaxo Wellcome), China
- Zinadol, (GlaxoSmithKline), Greece
Indications
As for the other cephalosporins, although as a second-generation it is less susceptible to Beta-lactamase and so may have greater activity against Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Lyme disease.
Side effects
Cefuroxime is generally well tolerated and side effects are usually transient. Cefuroxime if taken with food is both better absorbed and less likely to cause its commonest upsets of diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Although there is a widely quoted cross-allergy risk of 10% between cephalosporins and penicillin, recent assessments have shown no increased risk for cross-allergy for cefuroxime and several other 2nd generation or later cephalosporins.[4]
References
- ^ "FDA-sourced list of all drugs with black box warnings (Use Download Full Results and View Query links.)". nctr-crs.fda.gov. FDA. Retrieved 22 Oct 2023.
- ^ Zinnat entry on the Glaxo Smith Kline website.
- ^ Jędrzejczyk, Tadeusz. "Internetowa Encyklopedia Leków". leki.med.pl. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Pichichero ME (2006). "Cephalosporins can be prescribed safely for penicillin-allergic patients" (PDF). The Journal of family practice. 55 (2): 106–12. PMID 16451776.