Colistin use in critically ill patients: in search of the optimal dosing

High-dose colistin pharmacokinetics in critically ill patients receiving continuous renal replacement therapy

BACKGROUND

Colistin, administered as intravenous colistimethate (CMS), is still used in the critical care setting and current guidelines recommend high dosage CMS in patients undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Due to the paucity of real-life data, we aimed to describe colistin pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profile in a cohort of critically ill patients with infections due to carbapenem-resistant (CR) bacteria undergoing CRRT.

RESULTS

All consecutive patients admitted to three Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of a large metropolitan University Hospital, treated with colistin for at least 48 h at the dosage of 6.75 MUI q12, after 9 MIU loading dose, and undergoing CRRT were included. After the seventh dose, patients underwent blood serial sampling during a time frame of 24 h. We included 20 patients, who had CR-Acinetobacter baumannii ventilator-associated pneumonia and were characterized by a median SAPS II and SOFA score of 41 [34.5-59.3] and 9 [6.7-11], respectively. Fifteen patients died during ICU stay and six recovered renal function. Median peak and trough colistin concentrations were 16.6 mcg/mL [14.8-20.6] and 3.9 mcg/mL [3.3-4.4], respectively. Median area under the time-concentration curve (AUC0 - 24) and average steady-state concentration (Css, avg) were 193.9 mcg h/mL [170.6-208.6] and 8.07 mcg/mL [7.1-8.7]. Probability of target attainment of colistin pharmacodynamics according to the fAUC0 - 24/MIC target ≥ 12 was 100% for MIC ≤ 2 mcg/mL and 85% for MIC = 4 mcg/ML, although exceeding the toxicity limit of Css, avg 3-4 mcg/mL.

CONCLUSIONS

In critically ill patients with CR infections undergoing CRRT, recommended CMS dosage resulted in colistin plasmatic levels above bacterial MIC90, but exceeding the safety Css, avg. limit.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on 23/07/2021 with the ID NCT04995133 (https//clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04995133).

New dosing strategies for an old antibiotic: pharmacodynamics of front-loaded regimens of colistin at simulated pharmacokinetics in patients with kidney or liver disease

Increasing evidence suggests that colistin monotherapy is suboptimal at currently recommended doses. We hypothesized that front-loading provides an improved dosing strategy for polymyxin antibiotics to maximize killing and minimize total exposure. Here, we utilized an in vitro pharmacodynamic model to examine the impact of front-loaded colistin regimens against a high bacterial density (10(8) CFU/ml) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The pharmacokinetics were simulated for patients with hepatic (half-life [t1/2] of 3.2 h) or renal (t1/2 of 14.8 h) disease. Front-loaded regimens (n=5) demonstrated improvement in bacterial killing, with reduced overall free drug areas under the concentration-time curve (fAUC) compared to those with traditional dosing regimens (n=14) with various dosing frequencies (every 12 h [q12h] and q24h). In the renal failure simulations, front-loaded regimens at lower exposures (fAUC of 143 mg · h/liter) obtained killing activity similar to that of traditional regimens (fAUC of 268 mg · h/liter), with an ∼97% reduction in the area under the viable count curve over 48 h. In hepatic failure simulations, front-loaded regimens yielded rapid initial killing by up to 7 log10 within 2 h, but considerable regrowth occurred for both front-loaded and traditional regimens. No regimen eradicated the high bacterial inoculum of P. aeruginosa. The current study, which utilizes an in vitro pharmacodynamic infection model, demonstrates the potential benefits of front-loading strategies for polymyxins simulating differential pharmacokinetics in patients with hepatic and renal failure at a range of doses. Our findings may have important clinical implications, as front-loading polymyxins as a part of a combination regimen may be a viable strategy for aggressive treatment of high-bacterial-burden infections.