Publication
Abstract
Viral pneumonia is a disease associated with high mortality. Influenza viruses are predominantly respiratory infections since the primary site ofviral replication and shedding is the airway epithelium.
Thus, inhaled administration of antivirals may represent an elegant alternative to delivertherapeutic doses directly at the site of viral replication, while reducing the adverse effects of systemic drug exposure. However, pathophysiologi-cal pathways accompanying airway inflammation can modify the pharmacokinetics of inhaled drugs.
Since there is only limited information on thisissue available in the literature, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pneumonia on the pharmacokinetics of inhaled zanamivirin rats.