Push forward LC-MS-based therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacometabolomics for anti-tuberculosis precision dosing and comprehensive clinical management

The spread of tuberculosis(TB),especially multidrug-resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB,has strongly motivated the research and development of new anti-TB drugs.New strategies to facilitate drug combinations,including pharmacokinetics-guided dose optimization and toxicology studies of first-and second-line anti-TB drugs have also been introduced and recommended.Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(LC-MS)has arguably become the gold standard in the analysis of both endo-and exo-genous compounds.This technique has been applied successfully not only for therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)but also for pharmacometabolomics analysis.TDM improves the effectiveness of treatment,reduces adverse drug reactions,and the likelihood of drug resistance development in TB patients by determining dosage regimens that produce concentrations within the therapeutic target window.Based on TDM,the dose would be optimized individually to achieve favorable outcomes.Pharmacometabolomics is essential in generating and validating hypotheses regarding the metabolism of anti-TB drugs,aiding in the discovery of potential biomarkers for TB diagnostics,treatment monitoring,and outcome evaluation.This article highlighted the current progresses in TDM of anti-TB drugs based on LC-MS bioassay in the last two decades.Besides,we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of this technique in practical use.The pressing need for non-invasive sampling approaches and stability studies of anti-TB drugs was highlighted.Lastly,we provided perspectives on the prospects of combining LC-MS-based TDM and pharmacometabolomics with other advanced strategies(pharmacometrics,drug and vaccine developments,machine learning/artificial intelligence,among others)to encapsulate in an all-inclusive approach to improve treatment outcomes of TB patients.

Pretreatment and analysis techniques development of TKIs in biological samples for pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs)have emerged as the first-line small molecule drugs in many cancer therapies,exerting their effects by impeding aberrant cell growth and proliferation through the modulation of tyrosine kinase-mediated signaling pathways.However,there exists a substantial inter-individual variability in the concentrations of certain TKIs and their metabolites,which may render patients with compromised immune function susceptible to diverse infections despite receiving theoretically efficacious anticancer treatments,alongside other potential side effects or adverse reactions.Therefore,an urgent need exists for an up-to-date review concerning the biological matrices relevant to bioanalysis and the sampling methods,clinical pharmacokinetics,and therapeutic drug monitoring of different TKIs.This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the advancements in pretreatment methods,such as protein precipitation(PPT),liquid-liquid extraction(LLE),solid-phase extraction(SPE),micro-SPE(μ-SPE),magnetic SPE(MSPE),and vortex-assisted dispersive SPE(VA-DSPE)achieved since 2017.It also highlights the latest analysis techniques such as newly developed high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)and high-resolution mass spectrometry(HRMS)methods,capillary electrophoresis(CE),gas chromatography(GC),supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC)procedures,surface plasmon resonance(SPR)assays as well as novel nanoprobes-based biosensing techniques.In addition,a comparison is made between the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches while presenting critical challenges and prospects in pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring.

Is tumor necrosis factor-α monoclonal therapy with proactive therapeutic drug monitoring optimized for inflammatory bowel disease? Network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND The efficacy and safety of anti-tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)monoclonal antibody therapy[adalimumab(ADA)and infliximab(IFX)]with therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM),which has been proposed for inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)patients,are still controversial.AIM To determine the efficacy and safety of anti-TNF-αmonoclonal antibody therapy with proactive TDM in patients with IBD and to determine which subtype of IBD patients is most suitable for proactive TDM interventions.METHODS As of July 2023,we searched for randomized controlled trials(RCTs)and observa-tional studies in PubMed,Embase,and the Cochrane Library to compare anti-TNF-αmonoclonal antibody therapy with proactive TDM with therapy with reactive TDM or empiric therapy.Pairwise and network meta-analyses were used to determine the IBD patient subtype that achieved clinical remission and to determine the need for surgery.RESULTS This systematic review and meta-analysis yielded 13 studies after exclusion,and the baseline indicators were balanced.We found a significant increase in the number of patients who achieved clinical remission in the ADA[odds ratio(OR)=1.416,95%confidence interval(CI):1.196-1.676]and RCT(OR=1.393,95%CI:1.182-1.641)subgroups and a significant decrease in the number of patients who needed surgery in the proactive vs reactive(OR=0.237,95%CI:0.101-0.558)and IFX+ADA(OR=0.137,95%CI:0.032-0.588)subgroups,and the overall risk of adverse events was reduced(OR=0.579,95%CI:0.391-0.858)according to the pairwise meta-analysis.Moreover,the network meta-analysis results suggested that patients with IBD treated with ADA(OR=1.39,95%CI:1.19-1.63)were more likely to undergo TDM,especially in comparison with patients with reactive TDM(OR=1.38,95%CI:1.07-1.77).CONCLUSION Proactive TDM is more suitable for IBD patients treated with ADA and has obvious advantages over reactive TDM.We recommend proactive TDM in IBD patients who are treated with ADA.

A simulation study of sampling time point designing for therapeutic drug monitoring based on a population pharmacokinetic model

Aim To develop a method to estimate population pharmacokinetic parameters with the limited sampling time points provided clinically during therapeutic drug monitoring. Methods Various simulations were attempted using a one-compartment open model with the first order absorption to determine PK parameter estimates with different sampling strategies as a validation of the method. The estimated parameters were further verified by comparing to the observed values. Results The samples collected at the single time point close to the non-informative sampling time point designed by this method led to bias and inaccurate parameter estimations. Furthermore, the relationship between the estimated non-informative sampling time points and the values of the parameter was examined. The non-informative sampling time points have been developed under some typical occasions and the results were plotted to show the tendency. As a result, one non-informative time point was demonstrated to be appropriate for clearance and two for both volume of distribution and constant of absorption in the present study. It was found that the estimates of the non-informative sampling time points developed in the method increase with increases of volume of distribution and the decrease of clearance and constant of absorption. Conclusion A rational sampling strategy during therapeutic drug monitoring can be established using the method present in the study.

Therapeutic drug monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease:The dawn of reactive monitoring

Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is a chronic condition that significantly affects the quality of life of its patients.Biologic drugs have been the mainstay treatment in the management of IBD patients but despite their significant contribution,there remains a proportion of patients that do not respond or lose response to treatment.Therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)involves measuring levels of serum drug concentrations and anti-drug antibodies.TDM of biologic drugs initially emerged to understand treatment failure in other immune mediated inflammatory diseases.This was then introduced in IBD to rationalize primary non-response or secondary loss of response,given that low serum drug concentrations or the formation of anti-drug antibodies are variably associated with treatment failure.The aim of this narrative review is to provide an overview regarding the current use of TDM in clinical practice and to present the evidence available regarding its use in both proactive and reactive clinical settings in preventing and managing treatment failure.This review also presents the existing evidence regarding the association of various clinical outcomes with specific thresholds of drug concentrations,in everyday practice.A narrative review of published articles and conference abstracts regarding the use of TDM in IBD management,through an electronic search using PubMed and ScienceDirect.TDM has proven to be superior and more cost effective in guiding management of patients with treatment failure compared to empiric dose escalation or change in treatment.Despite a trend towards an association between clinical outcomes and drug concentrations,proactive TDM based strategies have not been shown to achieve clear benefit in long-term outcomes.In the clinical setting,TDM has proven to be useful in managing IBD patients,and its use in the reactive setting,as an additional tool to help manage patients with treatment failure,is being promoted as newer guidelines and consensus groups implement TDM as part of the management plan.

Potential use of a dried saliva spot(DSS)in therapeutic drug monitoring and disease diagnosis

In recent years,scientific researchers have increasingly become interested in noninvasive sampling methods for therapeutic drug monitoring and disease diagnosis.As a result,dried saliva spot(DSS),which is a sampling technique for collecting dried saliva samples,has been widely used as an alternative matrix to serum for the detection of target molecules.Coupling the DSS method with a highly sensitive detection instrument improves the efficiency of the preparation and analysis of biological samples.Furthermore,dried blood spots,dried plasma spots,and dried matrix spots,which are similar to those of the DSS method,are discussed.Compared with alternative biological fluids used in dried spot methods,including serum,tears,urine,and plasma,saliva has the advantage of convenience in terms of sample collection from children or persons with disabilities.This review aims to provide integral strategies and guidelines for dried spot methods to analyze biological samples by illustrating several dried spot methods.Herein,we summarize recent advancements in DSS methods from June 2014 to March 2021 and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the key aspects of this method,including sample preparation and method validation.Finally,we outline the challenges and prospects of such methods in practical applications.

Therapeutic drug monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease:At the right time in the right place

Therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)was one of most sought-after objective tools to determine therapeutic efficiency of different biologics and its role in the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)was regarded with great anticipation.But implementation of the TDM in clinical practice was challenged by several factors including uncertainty of the optimal cut-off values,assay variable sensitivity in detecting drug levels and antibodies and,most importantly,individual pharmacokinetics.While reactive TDM was embraced in clinical practice as a useful tool in assessing lack of response to therapy,the utility of proactive TDM in managing IBD therapy is still challenged by the lack of consistency between evidence.Described here,there are four groups of IBD patients for whom proactive TDM has the potential to greatly impact their therapeutic outcomes:Patients with perianal Crohn’s disease,patients with severe ulcerative colitis,pregnant women with IBD and children.As the future of IBD management moves towards personalizing treatment,TDM will be an important decision node in a machine learning based algorithm predicting the best strategy to maximize treatment results while minimizing the loss of response to therapy.

A Protocol for Developing a Clinical Practice Guideline for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Vancomycin

This study aimed to develop a guideline for therapeutic drug monitoring（TDM） of vancomycin. We adopted the new guideline definition from the Institute of Medicine（IOM）, adhered closely to the six domains of the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research ＆ Evaluation Ⅱ（AGREE Ⅱ）, and made recommendations based on systematic reviews. We established a Guideline Steering Group and a Guideline Development Group, formulated 12 questions in the form of Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome（PICO） and completed a literature search. As far as we know, we will develop the first evidenced-based guideline for vancomycin TDM under the framework of the Grade of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation（GRADE）.

Therapeutic drug monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease treatments

Recently,biological drugs have played a leading role in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease,and therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)may be useful in maximizing their effectiveness.TDM involves the measurement of serum drug and anti-drug antibodies concentrations as the basis for dosage adjustments or drug conversions to achieve a higher response rate.We believe that concentration thresholds should be individualized based on patients’disease severity,extent and phenotype,and therapeutic purposes should also be considered,with higher cut-offs mainly needed for endoscopic and fistula healing than for symptomatic remission.Proactive and reactive TDM can help optimize treatment,especially in patients receiving anti-tumour necrosis factor,and guide dose adjustment or drug conversion with lower cost.TDM is a promising approach to achieve precision medicine and targeted medicine in the future.

Thymosin as a possible therapeutic drug for COVID-19:A case report

BACKGROUND There are no effective antiviral therapies for coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)at present.Although most patients with COVID-19 have a mild or moderate course of disease,up to 5%-10%of patients may have a serious and potentially life-threatening condition,indicating an urgent need for effective therapeutic drugs.The therapeutic effect of thymosin on COVID-19 has not been previously studied.In this paper,for the first time we report a case of thymosin treatment of COVID-19.CASE SUMMARY A 51-year-old man with imported COVID-19 was admitted with definite symptoms of chest tightness,chest pain,and fatigue.The polymerase chain reaction results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were negative.The antibody test was positive,confirming the diagnosis of COVID-19.As many orally administered drugs were not well tolerated due to gastrointestinal symptoms,an emergency use of thymosin,a polypeptide consisting of 28 amino acids,was administered by injection.Finally,after the implementation of the treatment program,symptoms and lung imaging improved significantly.CONCLUSION In this case report,it is confirmed that thymosin may help alleviate the severity of COVID-19 symptoms.

Updates in therapeutic drug monitoring in inflammatory bowel disease

Biologics and immunomodulators(IMM)are generally considered the most effective therapies for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.However,despite the efficacy of these therapies,many patients either have a primary lack of response or a secondary loss of response to these medications.Therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)is a systematic approach to managing such patients.In this review,we summarize the latest data on TDM,including reactive and proactive TDM,in patients with inflammatory bowel disease on biologics and/or IMM.

Determination of Voriconazole in Human Plasma by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry: Application in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

A sensitive, accurate and robust Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry method has been developed and validated to measure voriconazole trough levels in human plasma. The plasma samples were mixed with fluconazole as an Internal Standard and directed to protein precipitation and drug extraction. An aliquot of 1 μl was injected into the chromatographic system and separated by the Acquity BEH C18 column at a flow rate of 0.30 ml/min in a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, Ultrapure water (UPW), methanol and formic acid. Voriconazole was detected by a Triple Quadrupole Detector (TQD) operating on Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) and a positive ion mode Electrospray ionization (ESI) Q1 mass: 350.1 m/z, Q3 mass: 281.1 m/z. Method linearity of the calibration curve (0.10 - 8.00 μg/ml) indicated a correlation coefficient r ≥ 0.99. The intra and inter-assay accuracy was within 85% - 115% and the intra and inter-assay precision was ≤5.76%. Voriconazole recovery percentage was between 97.69 - 119.62%. The method was successively applied in routine voriconazole TDM.

Evidence of voriconazole pharmacokinetic variability in children and adolescents with haematological disease: proposal for therapeutic drug monitoring optimisation

Objective:Voriconazole(VCZ)is a triazole antifungal agent widely used in immunocompromised patients with suspected or proven invasive fungal infections.The achievement of therapeutic range(1-5 mg/L)is essential to maximize VCZ efficacy,as its pharmacokinetics is characterized by a wide inter-and intra-individual variability.This study aims to quantify the variability of VCZ trough concentrations in children and adolescents with haematological diseases and optimize therapeutic drug monitoring in clinical practice.Methods:We analysed the monitoring concentrations of all children(<18 years old)treated with VCZ in the Haematology Department of Robert DebréHospital between January 2014 and December 2016.Demographic,clinical data,and VCZ dosing and monitoring concentrations measured by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection(HPLC-UV)were analysed.Non-parametric tests were performed using SPSS IBM 24.0.Results:380 trough VCZ concentrations at steady-state(Ctrough,ss)were available in 79 children:45.6%had first Ctrough,ss in the therapeutic range at first monitoring,46.8%had Ctrough,ss below 1 mg/L and 7.6%had Ctrough,ss over 5 mg/L.Forty-one patients were treated with recommended doses but only 53%of them reached the therapeutic range.There was no impact of age,sex,biological parameters,or indication of VCZ on Ctrough,ss values.The number of Ctrough,ss in the therapeutic range increases with the number of monitoring per patient following dosage adaptations.Conclusion:The wide inter-and intra-individual variability of VCZ trough concentrations at recommended doses confirm the need to standardize VCZ monitoring and identify factors to be considered to prospectively adapt treatment for each patient.

Chinese consensus guidelines for therapeutic drug monitoring of polymyxin B,endorsed by the Infection and Chemotherapy Committee of the Shanghai Medical Association and the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Committee of the Chinese Pharmacological Society

Polymyxin B,which is a last-line antibiotic for extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections,became available in China in Dec.2017.As dose adjustments are based solely on clinical experience of risk toxicity,treatment failure,and emergence of resistance,there is an urgent clinical need to perform therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)to optimize the use of polymyxin B.It is thus necessary to standardize operating procedures to ensure the accuracy of TDM and provide evidence for their rational use.We report a consensus on TDM guidelines for polymyxin B,as endorsed by the Infection and Chemotherapy Committee of the Shanghai Medical Association and the Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Committee of the Chinese Pharmacological Society.The consensus panel was composed of clinicians,pharmacists,and microbiologists from different provinces in China and Australia who made recommendations regarding target concentrations,sample collection,reporting,and explanation of TDM results.The guidelines provide the first-ever consensus on conducting TDM of polymyxin B,and are intended to guide optimal clinical use.

Development of a simple and rapid method to measure the free fraction of lamotrigine in plasma using HPLC:applications for therapeutic drug monitoring

Lamotrigine (LTG) is a widely used antiepileptic drug (AED) for the treatment of new-onset, as well as refractory epilepsy. Due to the narrow treatment window and large individual variability in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of LTG, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is necessary in clinical practice to guide dose adjustments. Individual differences and drug combinations can also affect protein binding rate, which further affects the unbound concentration of LTG. The unbound fraction is more closely related to adverse reactions and therapeutic efficacy than total concentration. Therefore, it may be more meaningful to determine the unbound LTG concentration in plasma than the total concentration.Unbound LTG in plasma was extracted by ultrafiltration. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to measure unbound LTG concentration. This method was validated by studies of its selectivity, linearity, lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), accuracy, precision, recovery, and stability.The method was validated over a linear range of 0.2 to 10.0 μg·mL–1, and its LLOQ was 0.2 μg·mL–1. The method’s relative standard deviations (RSDs) for intra-day and inter-day precision were less than 15%, and its accuracy (RE) was ±4.69%. The recoveries of unbound LTG at three different concentrations satisfied the requirements for the analysis of biological samples, and no significant degradation of LTG was observed under different storage conditions.A simple HPLC method showed good performance when used to measure unbound LTG concentration. This method might be used to study the relationship between unboundLTG concentrations and its effectiveness according to TDM.

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Vancomycin and Voriconazole by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometric Method

A reliable liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric（LC-MS/MS） method was developed and va- lidated for the simultaneous determination of vancomycin and voriconazole in human plasma. The analytes and internal standard 10-hydroxycarbazepine were separated at a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min using a Zorbax SB-C18 column （50 min×4.6 mm, 2.7 μm）. Positive ion electrospray ionization was used to detect vancomycin, voriconazole and intrenal standard（IS） 10-hydroxycarbazepine followed by multiple reaction monitoring（MRM） of the transition at m/z 725.5→144.2, 350.3→281.0 and 253.1→208.0, respectively. The total run time for both vancomycin and voriconazole samples was 5 min; 0.30μg/mL was the lower limit of quantification. The precision of intraday and interday was no more than 12.4%. The method was successfully and resoundingly applied in therapeutic drug monitoring of 156 patients treated with vancomycin and voriconazole.

CYP2C19 Genotyping Plus Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Dependent Voriconazole Treatment for Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in a Patient with Liver Failure

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis(IPA)is a lethal infectious disease with high mortality in patients with liver failure.Early recognition of the risk factors prompting earlier diagnosis and treatment may improve the outcomes.Voriconazole is recommended as the first-line drug for IPA,but hepatotoxicity limits its use in the context of liver diseases.We report a case of a 63-year-old female who was admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University due to IPA after glucocorticoid therapy for liver failure.The polymorphism of cytochrome P450(CYP)isoenzymes showed CYP2C19∗1/∗2 genotype associated with intermediate metabolism of voriconazole.However,the patient developed side effects such as skin rash,vomiting,hyperbilirubinemia,and alteration of consciousness,even if she received half of the recommended dosage for voriconazole.Therapeutic drug monitoring(TDM)was applied to guide the dosage adjustment of voriconazole in this patient,and consequently,the patient presented a favorable outcome.In conclusion,genotyping screening plus TDM dependent individualized treatment of voriconazole may improve the survival of liver failure patient with IPA.

MicroRNA-216a: a potential therapeutic target for drug resistance and recurrent of liver cancer

The Editor welcomes submissions for possible publication in the Letters to the Editor section.Letters commenting on an article published in the Journal or other interesting pieces will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published.Authors of the article being commented on will be given an opportunity to offer a timely response to the letter.Authors of letters will be notified that the letter has been received.Unpublished letters cannot be returned.

PREDICTION OF THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF NEW DRUGS FROM CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY STUDIES

The development of new drugs for therapeutic purposes has become very expensive and time-consuming in American and European countries.It is estimated that on the average 50 to 100 million dollars and 10 or more years from the time of patenting are required to make a new drug available for general prescription. Every new drug needs to be charac-

Analysis on Therapeutic Effect of Western and Chinese Drug in Treating Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Yinchenghao decoction (YCHD, 茵陈蒿汤) and S-adenosy-L-methionine (SAM) in treating intra-hepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (TCP) and improving prognosis of perinatal newborn babies. Methods: Sixty in-patients of TCP were randomly divided into two groups, the group A treated with YCHD and the group B treated with SAM. The symptom of itching and serum biochemical indexes, including glycocholic acid, bilirubin and transaminase, were observed after 3 weeks treat-ment, and the prognosis of perinatal newborn babies between the two groups was compared after delivery. Results: After treatment, the symptom of itching, serum levels of glycocholic acid, bilirubin and transaminase improved significantly (P< 0.05) in both groups, and the prognosis of newborn in the two groups was similar (P>0. 05). Conclusion: Both YCHD and SAM could effectively treat ICP. The former is rather cheaper, so it is more feasible for spreading.Original article on CJITWM (Chin) 2004 ;24(4): 309