Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Cefepime.

2022

929-953

06/2022

1179-1926

Cefepime is a broad-spectrum fourth-generation cephalosporin with activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. It is generally administered as an infusion over 30-60 min or as a prolonged infusion with infusion times from 3 h to continuous administration. Cefepime is widely distributed in biological fluids and tissues with an average volume of distribution of ~ 0.2 L/kg in healthy adults with normal renal function. Protein binding is relatively low (20%), and elimination is mainly renal. About 85% of the dose is excreted unchanged in the urine, with an elimination half-life of 2-2.3 h. The pharmacokinetics of cefepime is altered under certain pathophysiological conditions, resulting in high inter-individual variability in cefepime volume of distribution and clearance, which poses challenges for population dosing approaches. Consequently, therapeutic drug monitoring of cefepime may be beneficial in certain patients including those who are critically ill, have life-threatening infections, or are infected with more resistant pathogens. Cefepime is generally safe and efficacious, with a goal exposure target of 70% time of the free drug concentration over the minimum inhibitory concentration for clinical efficacy. In recent years, reports of neurotoxicity have increased, specifically in patients with impaired renal function. This review summarizes the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicodynamics of cefepime contemporarily in the setting of increasing cefepime exposures. We explore the potential benefits of extended or continuous infusions and therapeutic drug monitoring in special populations.

10.1007/s40262-022-01137-y

Clin Pharmacokinet

35764774

Precision dosing of vancomycin: in defence of AUC-guided therapy in children.

2021

2021 Jun 07

1460-2091

<p>In 2020, new vancomycin guidelines were released, recommending the transition from trough-based to AUC24 monitoring for adult and paediatric patients. Given the resources required to achieve this transition, there has been debate about the costs and benefits of AUC24-based monitoring. A recent narrative review of vancomycin therapeutic drug monitoring in paediatrics claims to have uncovered the methodological weaknesses of the data that informed the guidelines and advises against premature adoption of AUC24-guided monitoring. In this article, we present supporting arguments for AUC24-guided monitoring in children, which include that: (i) troughs alone are inadequate surrogates for AUC24; (ii) vancomycin-associated nephrotoxicity has significant consequences that warrant optimization of dosing; (iii) a substantial portion of children receiving vancomycin are at high risk for poor outcomes and deserve targeted monitoring; and (iv) limited efficacy data in support of AUC24 is not a justification to revert to a less supported monitoring approach.</p>

10.1093/jac/dkab194

J Antimicrob Chemother

34096598

The case for precision dosing: medical conservatism does not justify inaction.

2021

2021 Apr 12

1460-2091

<p>The need for precision dosing has been challenged on the basis of insufficient evidence. Herein, we argue that adequate evidence exists to conduct therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and precisely target antibiotic exposures. While achievement of any antibiotic concentration does not guarantee efficacy sans toxicity for any single patient, stochastic control optimizes the probability of achieving favourable responses across patients. We argue that variability in targets (such as the organism's MIC) can be considered with models. That is, complexity alone does not relegate the decision-making framework to 'clinician intuition'. We acknowledge the exposure-response relationships are modified by patient-specific factors (other drugs, baseline organ functional status etc.) and describe how precision dosing can inform clinical decision making rather than protocolize it. Finally, we call for randomized, controlled trials; however, we suggest that these trials are not necessary to make TDM standard of care for multiple classes of antibiotics.</p>

10.1093/jac/dkab086

J Antimicrob Chemother

33843994

Microsampling Assays for Pharmacokinetic Analysis and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Antimicrobial Drugs in Children: A Critical Review.

2020

2020 Dec 03

1536-3694

<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>With the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant organisms, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has become a common tool for assuring the safety and efficacy of antimicrobial drugs at higher doses. Microsampling techniques, including dried blood spotting (DBS) and volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS), are attractive tools for TDM and pediatric clinical research. For microsampling techniques to be a useful tool for TDM, it is necessary to establish the blood-plasma correlation and the therapeutic window of antimicrobial drugs in the blood.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>DBS involves the collection of small volumes of blood (30 - 50 µL per spot) on a filter paper, while VAMS allows the accurate and precise collection of a fixed volume of blood (10-30 µL) with microsampling devices. One of the major advantages of VAMS is that it reduces or eliminates the volumetric blood hematocrit (HCT) bias associated with DBS. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is a powerful tool for the accurate quantification of antimicrobial drugs from small volumes of blood specimens.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>This review summarizes the recent LC-MS/MS assays that have employed DBS and VAMS approaches for quantifying antimicrobial drugs. Sample collection, extraction, validation outcomes, including the inter- and intra-assay accuracy and precision, recovery, stability, and matrix effect, as well as the clinical application of these assays and their potential as tools of TDM are discussed herein.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Microsampling techniques, such as VAMS, provide an alternative approach to traditional plasma sample collection for TDM.</p>

10.1097/FTD.0000000000000845

Ther Drug Monit

33278241

Vancomycin-Induced Kidney Injury: Animal Models of Toxicodynamics, Mechanisms of Injury, Human Translation, and Potential Strategies for Prevention.

2020

2020 Apr 02

1875-9114

<p>Vancomycin is a recommended therapy in multiple national guidelines. Despite the common use, there is a poor understanding of the mechanistic drivers and potential modifiers of vancomycin-mediated kidney injury. In this review, historic and contemporary rates of vancomycin-induced kidney injury (VIKI) are described, and toxicodynamic models and mechanisms of toxicity from preclinical studies are reviewed. Aside from known clinical covariates that worsen VIKI, preclinical models have demonstrated that various factors impact VIKI, including dose, route of administration, and thresholds for pharmacokinetic parameters. The degree of acute kidney injury (AKI) is greatest with the intravenous route and higher doses that produce larger maximal concentrations and areas under the concentration curve. Troughs (i.e., minimum concentrations) have less of an impact. Mechanistically, preclinical studies have identified that VIKI is a result of drug accumulation in proximal tubule cells, which triggers cellular oxidative stress and apoptosis. Yet, there are several gaps in the knowledge which may represent viable targets to make vancomycin therapy less toxic. Potential strategies include prolonging infusions and lowering maximal concentrations, administration of antioxidants, administering agents that decrease cellular accumulation, and reformulating vancomycin to alter the renal clearance mechanism. Based on preclinical models and mechanisms of toxicity, we propose potential strategies to lessen VIKI.</p>

10.1002/phar.2388

Pharmacotherapy

32239518

Lack of synergistic nephrotoxicity between vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam in a rat model and a confirmatory cellular model.

2020

2020 Feb 03

1460-2091

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam are reported in clinical studies to increase acute kidney injury (AKI). However, no clinical study has demonstrated synergistic toxicity, only that serum creatinine increases.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>To clarify the potential for synergistic toxicity between vancomycin, piperacillin/tazobactam and vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam treatments by quantifying kidney injury in a translational rat model of AKI and using cell studies.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>(i) Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 32) received saline, vancomycin 150 mg/kg/day intravenously, piperacillin/tazobactam 1400 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally or vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam for 3 days. Urinary biomarkers and histopathology were analysed. (ii) Cellular injury was assessed in NRK-52E cells using alamarBlue®.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Urinary output increased from Day -1 to Day 1 with vancomycin but only after Day 2 for vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam-treated rats. Plasma creatinine was elevated from baseline with vancomycin by Day 2 and only by Day 4 for vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam. Urinary KIM-1 and clusterin were increased with vancomycin from Day 1 versus controls (P &lt; 0.001) and only on Day 3 with vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam (P &lt; 0.001, KIM-1; P &lt; 0.05, clusterin). The histopathology injury score was elevated only in the vancomycin group when compared with piperacillin/tazobactam as a control (P = 0.04) and generally not so with vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam. In NRK-52E cells, vancomycin induced cell death with high doses (IC50 48.76 mg/mL) but piperacillin/tazobactam did not, and vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam was similar to vancomycin.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>All groups treated with vancomycin demonstrated AKI; however, vancomycin + piperacillin/tazobactam was not worse than vancomycin. Histopathology suggested that piperacillin/tazobactam did not worsen vancomycin-induced AKI and may even be protective.</p>

10.1093/jac/dkz563

J. Antimicrob. Chemother.

32011685

Mechanisms of antimicrobial-induced nephrotoxicity in children.

2019

2019 Aug 01

1460-2091

<p>Drug-induced nephrotoxicity is responsible for 20% to 60% of cases of acute kidney injury in hospitalized patients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in both children and adults. Antimicrobials are one of the most common classes of medications prescribed globally and also among the most common causes of nephrotoxicity. A broad range of antimicrobial agents have been associated with nephrotoxicity, but the features of kidney injury vary based on the agent, its mechanism of injury and the site of toxicity within the kidney. Distinguishing nephrotoxicity caused by an antimicrobial agent from other potential inciting factors is important to facilitate both early recognition of drug toxicity and prompt cessation of an offending drug, as well as to avoid unnecessary discontinuation of an innocuous therapy. This review will detail the different types of antimicrobial-induced nephrotoxicity: acute tubular necrosis, acute interstitial nephritis and obstructive nephropathy. It will also describe the mechanism of injury caused by specific antimicrobial agents and classes (vancomycin, aminoglycosides, polymyxins, antivirals, amphotericin B), highlight the toxicodynamics of these drugs and provide guidance on administration or monitoring practices that can mitigate toxicity, when known. Particular attention will be paid to paediatric patients, when applicable, in whom nephrotoxin exposure is an often-underappreciated cause of kidney injury.</p>

10.1093/jac/dkz325

J. Antimicrob. Chemother.

31369087

Comparative performance of urinary biomarkers for vancomycin induced kidney injury according to timeline of injury.

2019

2019 Apr 15

1098-6596

<p>Urinary biomarkers are superior to serum creatinine for defining onset and extent of kidney injury. This study classifies the temporal predictive ability of biomarkers for vancomycin-induced kidney injury (VIKI) as defined by histopathologic damage.: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=125) were randomized to receive 150 to 400 mg/kg/day vancomycin via once or twice daily intraperitoneal injection over 1, 3, or 6 days. Urine was collected once during the 24 hours prior to euthanasia or twice for rats treated for 6 days. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were employed to assess urinary biomarker performance of kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1), clusterin, osteopontin (OPN), cystatin C, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) to predict histopathologic defined VIKI (using a national standard pathologic assessment scheme from hematoxylin and eosin stained kidneys). Urinary KIM-1, clusterin, and OPN outperformed cystatin C and NGAL according to sensitivity and specificity. For the earliest injury, urinary KIM-1 (AUC 0.662, p&lt;0.001) and clusterin (AUC 0.706, p&lt;0.001) were most sensitive to predicting even low-level histopathologic damage at 24 h when compared to NGAL. KIM-1 and clusterin are earliest and most sensitive predictors of VIKI. As injury progresses, KIM-1, clusterin and OPN define the extent of damage best.</p>

10.1128/AAC.00079-19

Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.

30988153

Vancomycin Prescribing and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Children With and Without Acute Kidney Injury After Cardiac Arrest.

2019

2019 Mar 12

1179-2019

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Acute kidney injury (AKI) commonly occurs after cardiac arrest. Those subsequently treated with vancomycin are at additional risk for drug-induced kidney injury.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>We aimed to determine whether opportunities exist for improved drug monitoring after cardiac arrest.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This was a retrospective cohort study of children aged 30&nbsp;days-17&nbsp;years treated after cardiac arrest in an intensive care unit from January 2010 to September 2014 who received vancomycin within 24&nbsp;h of arrest. Vancomycin dosing and monitoring were compared between those with and without AKI, with AKI defined as pRIFLE (pediatric risk, injury, failure, loss, end-stage renal disease) stage 2-3 AKI at day 5 using Schwartz formula-calculated estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of 43 children, 16 (37%) had AKI at day 5. Age, arrest duration, median time to first vancomycin dose, and the number of doses before and time to first vancomycin concentration measurement were similar between groups. Children with AKI had higher initial vancomycin concentrations than those without AKI (median 16 vs. 7&nbsp;mg/L; p = 0.003). A concentration was not measured before the second dose in 44% of children with AKI. Initial eGFR predicted day 5 AKI. In children with AKI, the initial eGFR was lower in those with than those without a concentration measurement before the second dose (29&nbsp;mL/min/1.73&nbsp;m [interquartile range (IQR) 23-47] vs. 52 [IQR 50-57]; p = 0.03) but well below normal in both.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>In children with AKI after cardiac arrest, decreased vancomycin clearance was evident early, and early monitoring was not performed universally in those with low initial eGFR. Earlier vancomycin therapeutic drug monitoring is indicated in this high-risk population.</p>

10.1007/s40272-019-00328-8

Paediatr Drugs

30864056