Ticarcillin was studied on its antibacterial activity, absorption, excretion and clinical effects, and the following results were obtained.
1. Antibacterial activity
The antibacterial activities of ticarcillin against E. coli and Pr. mirabilis were 2 to 8 times stronger than those of ampicillin and carbenicillin.
With an inoculum size of 106 cells/ml, ticarcillin was at least two fold more active against Ps. aeruginosa than sulbenicillin and carbenicillin, 76% of isolates being inhibited by 50 pag/ml or less.
2. Absorption and excretion
After a single intramuscular dose of 0.5 and 1.0 g to 6 healthy adults, the mean peak concentrations of ticarcillin in serum were 14. 8 and 28.8 μg/ml respectively at 30 minutes. The biological half life of ticarcillin ranged 0.87 to 1. 18 hours. Ninety-four to 75% of the dose was excreted in the urine during the first 6 hours after injection.
A dose response was obtained with increasing dosage of ticarcillin.
The serum levels of ticarcillin maintained longer in patients with renal insufficiency.
3. Clinical results
Ticarcillin was clinically applied to 20 patients with bacterial infection, including 9 cases of respiratory tract infection, 5 cases of biliary tract infection and 6 cases of urinary tract infection, and the results obtained were good in 15 cases, fair in 1 case, and poor in 4 cases.
No marked side effects were observed.
