Revisiting Beta-lactams – PK/PD improves dosing of old antibiotics

Pre-clinical pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic assessments indicate Beta-lactam antibiotics have time-dependent killing, variable persistent antibiotic effects and that free drug T > MIC is the dominant pharmacodynamic index. Prolonged or continuous infusion therapy has improved microbiological responses in pathogens with MICs at or 2–4 fold higher than existing EUCAST clinical breakpoints in pre-clinical studies. Human population pharmacokinetic modelling combined with Monte Carlo Simulation indicates improved pharmacodynamic target attainment rates and hence predicts improved clinical responses for those pathogens with raised MICs. However, the majority of human clinical trials comparing prolonged or continuous infusion to intermittent injection have failed to show superior clinical cures and for the most part microbiological successes. The exception being in various subgroup analyses. Future clinical trials need to focus on defining the T > MIC sizes associated with clinical or microbiological cure in man, on those subgroups of patients where continuous, or prolonged infusion, is likely to be of greatest benefit, seek to reduce pharmacokinetic variability by the use of therapeutic drug monitoring and include measurement of the risks of emergence of resistance in target pathogens At present, the clinical evidence base for prolonged or continuous infusion therapy is insufficiently strong to support widespread use.

► Pre-clinical data, with Beta-lactams indicate continuous or prolonged infusion (C or PI) has advantages over conventional dosing.
► Clinical trials have failed to show consistant benefits with C or PI.
► Future trials need to translate pre-clinical data into man identifying patient groups who will most benefit from C or PI.