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ANTONIO L. DOADRIO Y COLS. AN. R. ACAD. NAC. FARM.

methodology applied for this purpose was HPLC since this technique
facilitates the separation of the complex Cu(II)cefotaxime, the
corresponding Cu(II)-cephalosporanic acid chelate, free cefotaxime
and their compounds resulting from the degradation of cefotaxime.

This paper is also focused on how much microbial activity
contains the compounds produced from the complexation metal-
cefotaxime. In pursuit of that aim, we studied the biological activity
of the complexes against Bacillus subtilis CECT 356, Escherichia coli
CECT 434, Escherichia coli CECT 616, Staphilococus aureus spp
aureus CECT 435 and Staphilococus aureus spp aureus CECT 239
compared to data from experiments with free cefotaxime and Cu(II)
at physiological concentrations found in poisoned living beens.

This work should be a clue to reveal whether the complex
antibiotic-metal loses the microbiological activity as would be
hypothesised by former works done in in vitro conditions.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1. Biology materials

Seventy five Wistar rats males of 250 to 300g weight were used
throughout this work and supplied by the warehouse of the
Complutense University of Madrid.

Animals were maintained in one of the rats room of the
warehouse. The temperature was 20 ºC, the relative humidity was
55% and the intensity of the light inside the room was 400 LUX
using cycles of 12 hours of light/darkness.

Animals were distributed by groups in order to assay different
treatments. One group of 35 rats with copper (group A), which was
poisoned with a nasogastric sound administering to their everyday 4
mL of a solution of 4 mg/mL of a copper (II). monohydrate. acetate
during 8 days. The groups left were arranged one of them with 35
rats (group B), and the other one with 5 rats (group C), both of
them without metal.

Groups A and B were put under treatment with an intramuscular
administration of an only dose of 200 mg of cefotaxime.

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