Quality assessment for therapeutic drug monitoring in AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG 5146): a multicenter clinical trial

Interlaboratory analysis of teicoplanin plasma concentration assays among Chinese laboratories

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE

Teicoplanin is widely used for the treatment of infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. Since there is a good correlation between trough levels and clinical outcome, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is recommended to achieve better clinical curative effects. However, TDM of teicoplanin is not routine in China. So, a programme was initiated in 2017, including both HPLC method establishment and interlaboratory quality assessment, for the measurement of teicoplanin.

METHODS

A main centre and a quality control centre were set up in the study. An HPLC-based method of teicoplanin determination in plasma was developed by the main centre. Analysis was performed using a Waters Symmetry C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). The mobile phase was NaH₂ PO₄ (0.01 mol/L) and acetonitrile (75:25 v/v; pH 3.3), with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and a detection wavelength of 215 nm. Piperacillin sodium was selected as an internal standard (IS). Twenty-six additional TDM centres were then recruited to adopt this method. Then, all the centres were asked to take part in a quality control assessment evaluated by the quality control centre.

RESULTS

For all TDM centres, linearity of teicoplanin concentration ranges was between 3.125 and 100 µg/mL. Intraday and interday accuracies ranged from 87.1% to 118.4%. Intraday and interday precision ranged from 0.3% to 13.8%. Therapeutic drug monitoring centres all passed inter-room quality assessment. All samples tested met the acceptance criteria. Then, 542 samples were collected. Patients with sub-optimal (≤10 mg/L) plasma teicoplanin concentrations constituted 42% of the total study population.

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSIONS

For the first time, a simple, rapid and accurate HPLC method for determining teicoplanin levels was successfully applied to therapeutic drug monitoring in clinical practice for twenty-seven TDM centres in China. The results demonstrated excellent interlaboratory agreement for teicoplanin testing and provide support for clinical laboratory quality management and results inter-accreditation.

Poor performance of laboratories assaying newly developed antiretroviral agents: results for darunavir, etravirine, and raltegravir from the international quality control program for therapeutic drug monitoring of antiretroviral drugs in human plasma/serum

BACKGROUND

The International Interlaboratory Quality Control PROGRAM for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Antiretroviral Drugs in Human Plasma/Serum was initiated in 1999. We have previously published our experience during the first 10 years of the PROGRAM. Since 2010, 3 newly developed antiretroviral agents have been added to the

PROGRAM

darunavir, etravirine, and raltegravir. The objective of this analysis is to describe the performance of participating laboratories measuring these newer agents in 2011-2012.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Each year, laboratories received 2 blind samples of human plasma/serum spiked with a low (<1.0 mg/L), medium (1.0-5.0 mg/L), or high (>5.0 mg/L) concentration of these drugs. Laboratory results were standardized to percentages with reference to the nominal (true) concentration. Any result that deviated more than 20% of the nominal values was defined as inaccurate.

RESULTS

The numbers of laboratories that participated by the end of 2012 were 44 for darunavir, 28 for etravirine, and 30 for raltegravir. A total of 357 results were evaluable for analysis. Of these, 64 (17.9%) results were reported with >20% deviation, so "inaccurate" (7.6% too low, 10.4% too high). The proportion of inaccurate results in 2011 was 21.3% for darunavir, 31.0% for etravirine, and 26.3% for raltegravir; in 2012, these figures improved to 8.1%, 23.2%, and 8.3% for darunavir, etravirine, and raltegravir, respectively. Taking darunavir as the reference, performance for etravirine was significantly lower [odds ratio = 0.462, 95% confidence interval: 0.246-0.866, P = 0.016] and performance for raltegravir was not significantly different. Low concentrations were significantly more frequently reported as inaccurate than medium or high concentrations: 28.6% versus 10.6% versus 8.8%, respectively (P < 0.001). Laboratories that used Liquid Chromatography with tandem Mass Spectrometry did not perform better than those using High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Ultrarapid Performance Liquid Chromatography: 41 inaccurate results in 200 samples (20.5%) versus 23 in 157 samples (14.6%, P = 0.154). Multiple logistic regression revealed that the concentration range was the only significant predictor of inaccurate results. The lower range of concentrations performed worse than medium or high concentrations (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Laboratories continue to have problems with adequately measuring low plasma concentrations of antiretroviral agents. This is particularly a problem for some of the newer antiretroviral agents with plasma concentrations in the <1.0 mg/L range, such as etravirine and raltegravir.

Real-time, aptamer-based tracking of circulating therapeutic agents in living animals

A sensor capable of continuously measuring specific molecules in the bloodstream in vivo would give clinicians a valuable window into patients' health and their response to therapeutics. Such technology would enable truly personalized medicine, wherein therapeutic agents could be tailored with optimal doses for each patient to maximize efficacy and minimize side effects. Unfortunately, continuous, real-time measurement is currently only possible for a handful of targets, such as glucose, lactose, and oxygen, and the few existing platforms for continuous measurement are not generalizable for the monitoring of other analytes, such as small-molecule therapeutics. In response, we have developed a real-time biosensor capable of continuously tracking a wide range of circulating drugs in living subjects. Our microfluidic electrochemical detector for in vivo continuous monitoring (MEDIC) requires no exogenous reagents, operates at room temperature, and can be reconfigured to measure different target molecules by exchanging probes in a modular manner. To demonstrate the system's versatility, we measured therapeutic in vivo concentrations of doxorubicin (a chemotherapeutic) and kanamycin (an antibiotic) in live rats and in human whole blood for several hours with high sensitivity and specificity at subminute temporal resolution. We show that MEDIC can also obtain pharmacokinetic parameters for individual animals in real time. Accordingly, just as continuous glucose monitoring technology is currently revolutionizing diabetes care, we believe that MEDIC could be a powerful enabler for personalized medicine by ensuring delivery of optimal drug doses for individual patients based on direct detection of physiological parameters.