Drug Binding to Plasma Proteins During Human Pregnancy and in the Perinatal Period

Plasma protein binding of one acidic drug, cloxacillin, and one basic drug, alprenolol, was determined by equilibrium dialysis at +37 degrees C during pregnancy and the 1st postnatal week in 12 women and their newborn infants and in 7 nonpregnant women (controls). A significant increase in fraction free cloxacillin in maternal plasma occurred during pregnancy already from the 2nd trimester compared to the controls (p less than 0.01) and was most pronounced at delivery (median values 0.126 and 0.069, respectively). A similarly increased fraction free cloxacillin was found in cord blood (median value 0.108) which further increased during the 1st postnatal week (range 0.112-0.164). In maternal plasma the binding capacity returned to the values of the controls during the same time period. The binding of cloxacillin was significantly correlated with the concentration of albumin (p less than 0.01). High correlation was also found between binding of the basic drug alprenolol and concentration of orosomucoid (p less than 0.005). This was most obvious in the newborn infants with low concentrations (range 0.1-0.3 g/l) and in the mothers during the puerperium with high concentrations of orosomucoid (range 0.7-2.5 g/l). On the basis of plasma protein binding data in the mother and her child, a maternal to fetal plasma concentration ratio was calculated. For cloxacillin this ratio was close to unity (1.03), while it was significantly above unity for alprenolol (1.72). At equilibrium, therefore, the total plasma concentration of alprenolol in the mother can be expected to exceed the concentration in her infant.