BACKGROUND Oxacillin and cloxacillin are the most frequently used penicillins for the treatment of severe methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infections in intensive care units (ICUs), especially endocarditis. International recommendations do not suggest any adaptation of the dosage in case of renal impairment. We wanted to assess the risk factors for overdosing in ICU and the related...

BACKGROUND As pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) becomes more widely used in heterosexual populations, an important consideration is its safety in infants who are breastfed by women taking PrEP. We investigated whether tenofovir and emtricitabine are excreted into breast milk and then absorbed by the breastfeeding infant in clinically significant concentrations when used as PrEP by lactating women...

Phase I studies of p.o. administered nolatrexed dihydrochloride (AG337, THYMITAQ), a nonclassical thymidylate synthase inhibitor, were performed to establish the maximum tolerated dose and a recommended dose for Phase II studies. The bioavailability and pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of oral nolatrexed were also studied. Forty-five patients were treated with oral nolatrexed ever...

BACKGROUND Oral tacrolimus therapy is effective for refractory ulcerative colitis (UC), but dose adjustment according to the trough concentrations which varies largely among individuals, is required. This study aimed to identify factors to predict the tacrolimus dose required for achieving the target trough level for remission induction of UC. METHODS Forty-seven consecutive UC patients who w...

TDM and exposure–response relationships TDM is the measurement and interpretation of drug concentrations in biological fluids so as to determine the correct drug dosage for an individual patient.1 The technique requires that dose be correlated with exposure and that exposure be correlated with pharmacodynamic (PD) response. Exposure metrics include the pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters: area unde...

Valproic acid (VPA) is one of the most widely prescribed antiepileptic drugs for the treatment of epileptic seizures. Although it is well known that the doses of VPA and its plasma concentrations are highly correlated, the plasma concentrations do not correlate well with the therapeutic effects of the VPA. In this study, we developed a population-based pharmacokinetic (PK)-pharmacodynamic (PD) ...

OBJECTIVES The optimum trough concentration of voriconazole for clinical response and safety is controversial. The objective of this review was to determine the optimum trough concentration of voriconazole and evaluate its relationship with efficacy and safety. METHODS MEDLINE, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, the Cochrane Library and three Chinese literature databases were searched. Observational...

MELOXICAM is a NSAID classified as a derivative of enolic acid, licensed to treat acute and chronic musculoskeletal disorders in the dog. Meloxicam achieves maximal plasma concentration 4.5 hours after oral administration, has a low volume of distribution (0.3 l/kg), is highly plasma protein bound (97 per cent) and has an elimination half-life of 24 hours in dogs (EMA 2011). Steady state pharma...

Linezolid is an antibiotic with time-dependent activity, and both the percentage of time that plasma concentrations exceed the MIC and the area under the concentration-time curve over 24 h in the steady state divided by the MIC (AUC24/MIC ratio) are associated with clinical response. The aim of this study was to analyze the linezolid trough plasma concentration (C(min)) and to determine factors...

AIMS Dabigatran is largely cleared by renal excretion. Renal function is thus a major determinant of trough dabigatran concentrations, which correlate with the risk of thromboembolic and haemorrhagic outcomes. Current dabigatran dosing guidelines use the Cockcroft-Gault (CG) equation to gauge renal function, instead of contemporary equations including the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Col...