Interpretation of drug levels in acute and chronic disease states

Antiepileptic drugs--best practice guidelines for therapeutic drug monitoring: a position paper by the subcommission on therapeutic drug monitoring, ILAE Commission on Therapeutic Strategies

Although no randomized studies have demonstrated a positive impact of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) on clinical outcome in epilepsy, evidence from nonrandomized studies and everyday clinical experience does indicate that measuring serum concentrations of old and new generation antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can have a valuable role in guiding patient management provided that concentrations are measured with a clear indication and are interpreted critically, taking into account the whole clinical context. Situations in which AED measurements are most likely to be of benefit include (1) when a person has attained the desired clinical outcome, to establish an individual therapeutic concentration which can be used at subsequent times to assess potential causes for a change in drug response; (2) as an aid in the diagnosis of clinical toxicity; (3) to assess compliance, particularly in patients with uncontrolled seizures or breakthrough seizures; (4) to guide dosage adjustment in situations associated with increased pharmacokinetic variability (e.g., children, the elderly, patients with associated diseases, drug formulation changes); (5) when a potentially important pharmacokinetic change is anticipated (e.g., in pregnancy, or when an interacting drug is added or removed); (6) to guide dose adjustments for AEDs with dose-dependent pharmacokinetics, particularly phenytoin.

Overtreatment in epilepsy: how it occurs and how it can be avoided

In pharmacotherapy, overtreatment may be defined as an excessive drug load (that is, excessive drug dosages or unnecessary polypharmacy) leading to a suboptimal risk-to-benefit ratio. The risk of overtreatment in the pharmacological management of epilepsy is substantial and may have serious consequences in terms of a greater incidence and severity of adverse effects. These effects can range from subtle CNS impairment to overt toxic effects, including teratogenicity. Overtreatment also causes increased treatment costs and may even lead to a paradoxical deterioration in seizure control. The prevention and correction of overtreatment requires a thorough understanding of the situations and mechanisms that lead to inappropriate prescribing of antiepileptic drugs. These include initiating treatment in conditions where it is not indicated (for example, long-term prophylaxis after head trauma or supratentorial surgery in seizure-free patients), use of excessively fast titration rates, prescription of excessively high initial target dosages, failure to consider conditions associated with reduced dosage requirements (for example, old age or comorbidities associated with impaired drug clearance), and failure to consider the dose-response characteristics of the selected drug. Many patients whose seizures do not respond to the initially prescribed medication can be optimally managed by switching to monotherapy with an alternative agent; premature use of combination therapy represents another common form of overtreatment. Overtreatment may also result from a failure to adjust the dosage to prevent or compensate for adverse pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic drug interactions, and from a failure to reduce drug load in patients who have not benefited from high dosages or polypharmacy. While the measurement of drug concentrations can aid in minimising adverse effects, there is also a danger of overtreatment resulting from inappropriate interpretation of drug concentration data. Continuation of drug therapy in seizure-free patients in whom the risk-benefit ratio is in favour of gradual withdrawal may also be regarded as overtreatment. Tailoring therapy to the needs of the individual patient is the key to the successful management of epilepsy. Even though the importance of complete seizure control cannot be overemphasised, no patient should be made to suffer more from the adverse effects of treatment than from the manifestations of the seizure disorder.

Interlaboratory variability in the quantification of new generation antiepileptic drugs based on external quality assessment data

PURPOSE

To assess interlaboratory variability in the determination of serum levels of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).

METHODS

Lyophilised serum samples containing clinically relevant concentrations of felbamate (FBM), gabapentin (GBP), lamotrigine (LTG), the monohydroxy derivative of oxcarbazepine (OCBZ; MHD), tiagabine (TGB), topiramate (TPM), and vigabatrin (VGB) were distributed monthly among 70 laboratories participating in the international Heathcontrol External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS). Assay results returned over a 15-month period were evaluated for precision and accuracy.

RESULTS

The most frequently measured compound was LTG (65), followed by MHD (39), GBP (19), TPM (18), VGB (15), FBM (16), and TGB (8). High-performance liquid chromatography was the most commonly used assay technique for all drugs except for TPM, for which two thirds of laboratories used a commercial immunoassay. For all assay methods combined, precision was <11% for MHD, FBM, TPM, and LTG, close to 15% for GBP and VGB, and as high as 54% for TGB (p < 0.001). Mean accuracy values were <10% for all drugs other than TGB, for which measured values were on average 13.9% higher than spiked values, with a high variability around the mean (45%). No differences in precision and accuracy were found between methods, except for TPM, for which gas chromatography showed poorer accuracy compared with immunoassay and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

CONCLUSIONS

With the notable exception of TGB, interlaboratory variability in the determination of new AEDs was comparable to that reported with older-generation agents. Poor assay performance is related more to individual operators than to the intrinsic characteristics of the method applied. Participation in an EQAS scheme is recommended to ensure adequate control of assay variability in therapeutic drug monitoring.

Overtreatment in epilepsy: adverse consequences and mechanisms

The most important determinant of quality of life in patients with epilepsy is complete seizure control, and therefore this should be the ultimate goal of pharmacological therapy. Seizure freedom, or a reduction in seizure frequency, however, should not be sought at all costs, and the situation should never arise where a person with epilepsy is made to suffer more from the side effects of treatment than from the consequences of the underlying disease. Overtreatment is not uncommon in patients taking antiepileptic drugs, and it may occur in many forms and with a variety of mechanisms. Long-term use (or continuation) of anticonvulsant therapy in situations where it is not indicated (e.g. in children with simple febrile seizures, or in non-epileptic seizure-free patients who underwent brain surgery) constitutes a blatant case of overtreatment. Other forms of overtreatment include the use of unnecessarily fast dose escalation rates, which may expose the patient to potentially serious or severe side effects, or the prescription of unnecessarily high maintenance dosages. The latter occurrence may result from inadequate understanding of dose-response relationships, from misinterpretation of serum drug concentrations (e.g. targeting concentrations within the 'range' in patients who are well controlled at lower concentrations) or, at times, from failure to recognize a paradoxical increase in seizure frequency as a manifestation of drug toxicity. The most common form of overtreatment, however, involves the unnecessary use of combination therapy (polypharmacy) in patients who could be treated optimally with a single drug. Adverse effects associated with polypharmacy often result from undesirable drug-drug interactions. While pharmacokinetic interactions are somewhat predictable and can be minimized or controlled by monitoring serum drug concentrations and/or dose adjustment, pharmacodynamic interactions leading to enhanced neurotoxicity (as seen, for example, in some patients given a combination of lamotrigine and carbamazepine) can only be identified by careful clinical observation. There is evidence that not all antiepileptic drug combinations are equally adverse, and that the combined use of specific drugs (e.g. lamotrigine and valproic acid) may even exhibit an improved therapeutic index compared with either agent given alone, provided appropriate dose adjustments are made. Although the suggestion has been made that adverse effects are more likely to result from combining anticonvulsants having a similar mode of action, our knowledge of the pharmacology of individual agents is insufficient to allow a reliable prediction of the clinical effects of specific drug combinations.

Is there a role for therapeutic drug monitoring of new anticonvulsants?

Despite the fact that all new anticonvulsants have undergone extensive pharmacokinetic scrutiny prior to their introduction to the market, the opportunity to perform good prospective studies on their concentration-effect relationship has been largely missed, in some cases deliberately because therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is considered unfavourable for the marketing of a new drug. However, there are reasons to believe that TDM may play a useful role in maximising the therapeutic potential of new anticonvulsants. In fact, these drugs have a narrow therapeutic index, careful individualisation of dosage to optimise response is required, and inter- and intra-individual pharmacokinetic variability may translate into differences in dosage requirements. The wide interindividual variability in the serum concentrations at which therapeutic and toxic effects of these drugs are observed does not necessarily imply that TDM cannot be useful: indeed, a marked pharmacodynamic variability has also been reported for all the currently monitored older anticonvulsants. The new anticonvulsants which, based on their properties, are particularly attractive candidates for TDM include lamotrigine, topiramate, tiagabine, zonisamide and felbamate. However, in the absence on sound information on the target concentration ranges of these drugs, the routine concentration monitoring of these drugs cannot be recommended. Despite this, serial measurements of serum drug concentrations may be useful in selected patients, especially those suspected of poor compliance and those in whom pharmacokinetic changes caused by disease or administration of concomitant medication are anticipated. Even in the presence of marked interindividual pharmacodynamic variability, it is often possible to empirically determine the concentration at which each patient exhibits the best response, and apply that information in subsequent management. Prospective studies, using preferably a randomised concentration-controlled design, are necessary to better characterise concentration-effect relationships for these agents.

A multicenter randomized controlled trial on the clinical impact of therapeutic drug monitoring in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy. The Italian TDM Study Group in Epilepsy

PURPOSE

To assess the clinical impact of monitoring serum concentrations of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

METHODS

One-hundred eighty patients with partial or idiopathic generalized nonabsence epilepsy, aged 6 to 65 years, requiring initiation of treatment with carbamazepine (CBZ), valproate (VPA), phenytoin (PHT), phenobarbital (PB), or primidone (PRM) were randomly allocated to two groups according to an open, prospective parallel-group design. In one group, dosage was adjusted to achieve serum AED concentration within a target range (10-20 microg/ml for PHT, 15-40 microg/ml for PB, 4-11 microg/ml for CBZ, and 40-100 microg/ml for VPA), whereas in the other group, dosage was adjusted on clinical grounds. Patients were followed up for 24 months or until a change in therapeutic strategy was clinically indicated.

RESULTS

Baseline characteristics did not differ between the two groups. Most patients with partial epilepsy were treated with CBZ, whereas generalized epilepsies were most commonly managed with PB or VPA. PHT was used only in a small minority of patients. A total of 116 patients completed 2-year follow-up, and there were no differences in exit rate from any cause between the monitored group and the control group. The proportion of assessable patients with mean serum drug levels outside the target range (mostly below range) during the first 6 months of the study was 8% in the monitored group compared with 25% in the control group (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the monitored group and the control group with respect to patients achieving 12-month remission (60% vs. 61%), patients remaining seizure free since initiation of treatment (38% vs. 41%), and time to first seizure or 12-month remission. Frequency of adverse effects was almost identical in the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Only a small minority of patients were treated with PHT, the drug for which serum concentration measurements are most likely to be useful. With the AEDs most commonly used in this study, early implementation of serum AED level monitoring did not improve overall therapeutic outcome. and the majority of patients could be satisfactorily treated by adjusting dose on clinical grounds. Monitoring the serum levels of these drugs in selected patients and in special situations is likely to be more rewarding than routine measurements in a large clinic population.

Effects of inflammation-associated acute-phase response on hepatic and renal indices in the horse

OBJECTIVES

To determine the effect of an acute soft tissue inflammatory response on biochemical and haematological indices of hepatic and renal function in the Thoroughbred horse.

PROCEDURE

Soft tissue inflammation was induced in four Thoroughbred horses by intramuscular injections of Freund's complete adjuvant. The horses were clinically examined and blood and urine samples were collected before and after the adjuvant injections. Biochemical and haematological indices were measured in samples collected and used to determine the onset of the acute-phase response and to assess hepatic and renal function at this time.

RESULTS

After adjuvant injection, significant increases (P < 0.01) in total white (13.1 +/- 1.4 x 10(9)/L) and neutrophil (10.2 +/- 1.2 x 109/L) cell counts, rectal temperature (39.7 +/- 0.5 degrees C) and various plasma protein concentrations, including fibrinogen (6.6 +/- 1.2 g/L), haptoglobin (1.3 +/- 0.1 g/L) and total protein (88.1 +/- 2.7 g/L), indicated the induction of an acute-phase response. This corresponded with significant reductions (P < 0.01) in the plasma elimination half-lives (t1/2 beta) sodium bromosulphthalein (3.13 +/- 0.05 to 2.82 +/- 0.07 min) and sodium sulphanilate (38.29 +/- 4.04 to 19.60 +/- 5.68 min) and reductions in the plasma activities of aspartate aminotransferase, glutamate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, alkaline phosphatase, gamma glutamyl transferase; the urinary creatinine clearance ratios of sodium, chloride and potassium; and the urinary gamma glutamyl transferase-to-creatinine clearance ratios. (All values mean +/- SD.)

CONCLUSIONS

The effects of the acute-phase response on indices of hepatic and renal function in the horse suggest that the disposition of pharmacological agents administered at this time may be altered and that indices of acute inflammation should be interpreted cautiously.

Measurement and analysis of unbound drug concentrations

The plasma protein binding of drugs has been shown to have significant effects on numerous aspects of clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In many clinical situations, measurement of the total drug concentration does not provide the needed information concerning the unbound fraction of drug in plasma which is available for distribution, elimination, and pharmacodynamic action. Thus, accurate determination of unbound plasma drug concentrations is essential in the therapeutic monitoring of drugs. Many methodologies are available for determining the extent of plasma protein binding of drugs, however, in the clinical evaluation of drug therapy, equilibrium dialysis and ultrafiltration are the most routinely utilised methods. Both of these methods have been proven to be experimentally sound and to yield adequate protein binding data. Furthermore, the characterisation of the interactions between drug and protein molecules is essential for the assessment of the pharmacokinetic implications of drug-protein binding. Protein binding parameters which characterise the affinity of the drug-protein association, the number of classes of binding sites, the number of binding sites per class or protein and the binding capacity are useful for predicting unbound drug concentrations. Simple graphical methods have often been used to obtain protein binding parameters, but these methods have limitations and are not useful for drugs with more than 1 class of binding site. Therefore, the fitting of protein binding models which characterise the drug-protein binding interaction for experimental data is the preferred method of calculating binding parameters. Using the appropriate model, values for binding parameters are typically estimated by using nonlinear least-squares regression analysis.

Determination of free DOPA and 3-O-methyl-DOPA in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A procedure was devised for the determination of the unconjugated non-protein-bound fraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and 3-O-methyl-DOPA (3-OMD) in plasma using a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic system coupled with electrochemical detection. Sample preparation involves rapid isolation of the unbound drugs from the drug-protein complex by ultrafiltration through a membrane with a molecular weight cut-off of 10,000 dalton. One chromatographic run requires less than 10 min. The relative standard deviation is less than 3% for the within-assay imprecision and less than 4% for the between-assay imprecision. The detection limits for DOPA and 3-OMD are 0.2 and 1.3 ng/ml, respectively.

Pharmacokinetics in acute illness

Severe illness at any age is accompanied by organ dysfunction, the administration of numerous drugs and complex changes in drug absorption, disposition and action. The clinician faced with a seriously ill patient should be aware of the important principles of drug treatment in critical illness. With acute illness of all types, the premature infant and the octogenarian lie at opposite ends of an age spectrum which encompasses the gamut of human disease and changeable organ pathophysiology. The common requirement of this host of variables is a flexible management plan, and careful observation of the patient's response to a therapeutic regimen which has been based on a sound knowledge of drug pharmacokinetics.

Psychopharmacology in patients with hepatic and gastrointestinal disease

Psychotropic drugs often need to be prescribed to patients who also have pre-existing gastrointestinal (GI) and/or hepatic disease. This paper addresses the effect of GI and hepatic disease on the pharmacokinetics of psychotropic drugs, the effect of psychotropic drugs on pre-existing GI and hepatic diseases, the adverse GI and hepatic effects of psychotropic medications, the effects of GI medications on mental status, and the potential drug interactions between commonly prescribed GI medications and psychotropic drugs. Drug selection and dosage modification based on these considerations should allow safe and effective psychotropic treatment for patients with pre-existing GI and/or hepatic disease.

Alfentanil infusions in patients requiring intensive care

Alfentanil is a short acting opioid that has an established place in anaesthesia. Its predictable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, particularly its rapid termination of effect and haemodynamic stability, have led to its use by continuous intravenous infusion both during anaesthesia and more recently in critically ill patients. Fine control of a potent analgesic that has respiratory depressant and antitussive properties would be particularly advantageous in this group, offering patients an improvement in comfort without increasing the risk of oversedation. Pharmacokinetic studies of alfentanil have demonstrated wide interindividual variations. This may be due to a wide variety of factors including age, obesity, hepatic dysfunction, changes in regional haemodynamics, sex, and alterations in plasma protein binding ability and concentration. The importance of pharmacogenetic differences and tolerance to alfentanil remains to be elucidated. Renal disease does not appear to significantly alter the pharmacokinetics of this agent, which may make it particularly useful in this situation. Since alfentanil does not depress conscious level or produce anxiolysis, additional agents such as a benzodiazepine will be necessary to provide adequate sedation. The difficulties in accurately predicting the response of an individual critically ill patient necessitate careful and continuous dose titration of alfentanil according to the clinical response.

Does alpha 1-acid glycoprotein reduce the unbound metabolic clearance of disopyramide in patients with renal impairment?

The pharmacokinetics of disopyramide was studied in 15 patients with renal dysfunction (4 with pyelonephritis, 7 with glomerular nephritis and 4 with interstitial nephritis). The elimination rate constant of unbound disopyramide was 0.094 h-1 and CLu/f (unbound clearance divided by bioavailability) was 245 ml/min. Both the unbound renal clearance (CLR) and CLu/f were highly correlated with the creatinine clearance (CLCR). The apparent unbound metabolic clearance in the patients was approximately two-fold lower than that previously reported in normal subjects. The estimated unbound metabolic clearance in the renal dysfunction patients showed a significant negative correlation with the alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) concentration and only a weak, non-significant correlation with CLCR. As AAG in the renal dysfunction subjects was increased in comparison with normal values, it is possible that AAG is a factor in the decrease in the apparent unbound metabolic clearance.

Quantitative and qualitative binding characteristics of disopyramide in serum from patients with decreased renal and hepatic function

Protein binding of disopyramide, binding capacities, affinity constants and serum concentrations of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) were studied in five groups of patients. A: young healthy volunteers (n = 8); B: elderly patients with minor symptoms of ischaemic heart disease (n = 9); C: patients with cirrhosis of the liver and normal values of coagulation factors (II, VII and X), albumin and immunoglobulin G (n = 8); D: patients with cirrhosis and at least two abnormal of the previously mentioned values (n = 9) and E: eleven patients with severely impaired renal function. Subfractions of AAG (Fr1, Fr2 and Fr3) were determined by affinoimmunoelectrophoresis. AAG concentration was significantly (P less than 0.005) elevated in group E patients and decreased (P less than 0.025) in group D patients. Fr2 is probably associated with the high affinity, first binding site of disopyramide to AAG. Earlier observations of a reduced qualitative binding of disopyramide in patients with cirrhosis can be explained by a significant decrease in Fr2 (P less than 0.001) in group D patients. The protein binding of disopyramide in patients with uraemia was significantly increased due to a significant (P less than 0.005) increase in AAG concentration in spite of a smaller (P less than 0.025) affinity constant. Suggestions for therapeutic drug monitoring based on total serum concentrations are given.

Altered serum protein binding of carbamazepine in disease states associated with an increased alpha 1-acid glycoprotein concentration

The protein binding of carbamazepine (CBZ) in vitro was assessed in sera from 47 patients with various diseases known to alter alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) concentration and from 20 drug-free normal control subjects. In the patient group, AAG and albumin (HSA) concentrations ranged from 6 to 74 mumol/l and from 377 to 652 mumol/l, respectively; in the controls, protein concentrations were less variable, ranging from 11 to 26 mumol/l for AAG and from 623 to 754 mumol/l for HSA. In both the patient and the combined patient and control groups, free CBZ fractions were inversely correlated with the serum AAG concentration (r = -0.62). No significant relationship could be found between the free CBZ fraction and the serum HSA concentration. The free CBZ fraction was moderately but significantly decreased in patients with AAG levels above 26 mumol/l (the highest value found in controls) as compared either to patients with a normal AAG concentration or to control subjects (19 +/- 5% vs 23 +/- 4% and 23 +/- 2%), despite the finding of a higher HSA concentration in the control group. The data confirm AAG as an important determinant of interindividual variability in serum CBZ binding.