A Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamic Approach To Optimize Tazobactam Activity in Critically Ill Patients

The percentage of the time that the free drug concentration remains above a concentration threshold (%fT > concentration threshold) has frequently been identified to be the optimal pharmacokinetic (PK)-pharmacodynamic (PD) target of interest for tazobactam using in vitro infection models. Similar in vitro models suggested that an 85% fT > concentration threshold of 2 μg/ml for tazobactam is required to demonstrate a 2-log10-unit decrease in the number of CFU per milliliter from that at the baseline at 24 h for high-level β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli strains. The objective of this study was to characterize the tazobactam concentrations in a cohort of critically ill patients with Gram-negative bacterial infections, determine if traditional dosing regimens achieve a prespecified PK/PD target of an 80% fT > concentration threshold of 2 μg/ml, and propose alternative dosing regimens. Hospitalized critically ill adult patients receiving piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP) for a culture-positive Gram-negative bacterial infection were eligible to consent for study inclusion. Two blood samples were drawn, one during the midpoint of the dosing interval and one at the time of the trough concentration once the patient achieved PK steady state. A population PK model was developed using Phoenix NLME (v8.1) software to characterize the observed concentration-time profile of tazobactam, explore potential covariates to explain the variability in the clearance and volume parameters, and to simulate potential dosing regimens that would achieve the PK/PD target. The PK of tazobactam were adequately described by a one-compartment model with first-order elimination in 18 patients who provided consent. The final model incorporated creatinine clearance as a covariate on clearance. Simulations demonstrated target attainments of less than 50% for tazobactam using traditional dosing regimens (4/0.5 g over 30 min every 6 h). Target attainments of greater than 75% were achieved when using extended infusion times of 4 to 6 h or when administering TZP as a continuous infusion (16/2 g over 24 h). Traditional tazobactam dosing regimens fail to achieve conservative PK/PD targets in critically ill patients. Increases in the tazobactam dose or prolongation of the infusion rate may be warranted to achieve activity against β-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacteria.

Relative Oral Bioavailability of Two Amoxicillin-Clavulanic Acid Formulations in Healthy Dogs: A Pilot Study

The use of human generic amoxicillin-clavulanic acid formulations in veterinary medicine is currently lacking supportive evidence. This pilot study was conducted to determine preliminary pharmacokinetic parameters and relative oral bioavailability of a human generic and veterinary proprietary 4:1 amoxicillin-clavulanic acid formulation in healthy dogs to evaluate whether drug exposure was similar and to determine if further comparative investigation is warranted. Each dog received a single oral dose of each formulation containing 500:125 mg of amoxicillin-clavulanic acid at two separate instances with a 2 wk washout period between product administration. Following drug administration, blood was collected at fixed times over 24 hr to measure plasma amoxicillin and clavulanic acid concentrations using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. There were no statistically significant differences between pharmacokinetic parameters of either formulation. Clavulanic acid showed greater between-dog variation in drug exposure between formulations compared with amoxicillin and was also observed to be more variable within the veterinary proprietary formulation. The average relative oral bioavailability was 98.2% (23.6% coefficient of variation) for amoxicillin and 152.6% (64.3% coefficient of variation) for clavulanic acid between formulations. This pilot investigation supports the need for further bioequivalence studies regarding these formulations before commenting on product interchangeability.