Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Antimicrobials

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antimicrobials.

Antibiotics are some of our most commonly used drugs. Until recently, little has been known about how to optimize administration of these agents. Unfortunately, the rate of discovery of new antibiotics has been declining, coincident with the explosion in the number of multidrug-resistant organisms in both the community and hospital environments. This development makes the identification of opti...

Pharmacokinetics/ Pharmacodynamics

Topiramate: pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Topiramate is a structurally novel anti-epileptic drug with at least 3 postulated mechanisms of action including: 1) potentiation of GABA responses, 2) impairment of AMPA/kainate glutamate receptors and 3) suppression of high frequency action potential firing. It has a favourable pharmacokinetic profile with rapid absorption, good bio-availability, linear pharmacokinetics, relatively long half-...

Macrolides: pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Three pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters--(i) the peak concentration to the minimum inhibitory concentration ratio (C(max)/MIC); (ii) the area under the concentration-time curve to MIC ratio (AUC(24h)/MIC); and (iii) the time the concentration exceeds the MIC (T>MIC)--are important predictors of the clinical efficacy of antibiotics. For antibiotics with pronounced concentration-dependen...

Antifungal pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

Successful treatment of infectious diseases requires choice of the most suitable antimicrobial agent, comprising consideration of drug pharmacokinetics (PK), including penetration into infection site, pathogen susceptibility, optimal route of drug administration, drug dose, frequency of administration, duration of therapy, and drug toxicity. Antimicrobial pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD)...