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Clindamycin (Cleocin)

Antibioticprescriptionoral · inferred

Lincosamide antibiotic inhibiting 50S ribosomal subunit. Excellent activity against gram-positive cocci (including MRSA) and anaerobes. Achieves high concentrations in bone, making it preferred for osteomyelitis. ~90% oral bioavailability unaffected by food. Notable risk of C. difficile colitis. Also available topically for acne. Hepatically metabolized with active metabolites.

Projected serum levels — 300 mg, once daily

Clindamycin (Cleocin)
Clindamycin (Cleocin) modeled serum levels, 300 mg once daily over 15 days Population-based pharmacokinetic estimate. Steady state reached after approximately 1 days. 0 50 100 150 200 Day 0 Day 4 Day 8 Day 11 Day 15 Time on a regular schedule ≈ steady state · day 1

Maintenance schedule: 300 mg once daily (oral).

Modeled steady state after ~1 days: peak ≈ 171 mg, trough ≈ 0.056 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a 300 mg dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.

Key facts

Category
Antibiotic
Route modeled
Oral
Model confidence
inferred
Half-life
3 h
Common dose
300 mg
Suggested maximum
1.8k mg/day
Reference dose range
150–1.8k mg (single dose)
Suggested cadence
once daily
Validated against
300 mg oral — Cmax 2.5 mg/L at 1 h

Documented interactions

  • contraindicated
    Clarithromycin (Biaxin) + Clindamycin (Cleocin) CYP inhibition

    Clarithromycin (Biaxin) mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clindamycin (Cleocin) AUC by ~6.54x

  • contraindicated
    Diltiazem + Clindamycin (Cleocin) CYP inhibition

    Diltiazem mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clindamycin (Cleocin) AUC by ~6.54x

  • contraindicated
    Efavirenz (Sustiva) + Clindamycin (Cleocin) CYP induction

    Efavirenz (Sustiva) inducer of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clindamycin (Cleocin) AUC by ~0.13x

  • contraindicated
    Grapefruit (whole fruit) + Clindamycin (Cleocin) CYP inhibition

    Grapefruit (whole fruit) mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clindamycin (Cleocin) AUC by ~6.54x

  • contraindicated
    Grapefruit Juice + Clindamycin (Cleocin) CYP inhibition

    Grapefruit Juice mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clindamycin (Cleocin) AUC by ~6.54x

  • contraindicated
    Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir) + Clindamycin (Cleocin) CYP inhibition

    Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir) mechanism_based of CYP3A4 predicted to change Clindamycin (Cleocin) AUC by ~6.54x

Serum checks 62 modeled interaction pairings for clindamycin (cleocin) across your whole stack — absorption conflicts, enzyme inhibition, and nutrient depletion included.

Research behind this entry

  1. Clindamycin: a review of fifteen years of experience Fass RJ, Saslaw S · Reviews of Infectious Diseases, 1985 DOI

    Landmark 15-year review establishing clindamycin's efficacy for anaerobic and gram-positive infections, half-life of 2-3 hours, 90% bioavailability, bone penetration, and C. difficile colitis risk.

  2. Clindamycin versus trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for uncomplicated skin infections (IDSA) Miller LG et al. · New England Journal of Medicine, 2015 DOI

    Large RCT (524 patients) finding clindamycin equivalent to TMP-SMX for uncomplicated skin infections (cure rate 80% vs 78%), including MRSA, establishing both as first-line options.

2 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.