During antibiotic drug development, media are frequently spiked with either serum/plasma or protein supplements to evaluate the effect of protein binding. Usually, previously reported serum or plasma protein binding values are applied in the analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate this approach by experimentally measuring free, unbound concentrations for antibiotics with reportedly high protein binding and their corresponding antimicrobial activities in media containing commonly used protein supplements. Free, unbound ceftriaxone and ertapenem concentrations were determined in bacterial growth medium with and without bovine/human serum albumin, as well as adult bovine serum and human plasma using in vitro microdialysis. The corresponding antimicrobial activity was determined in MIC and time-kill curve experiments using Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Streptococcus pneumoniae ATCC 6303 as test strains. A semimechanistic maximum effect model was simultaneously fitted to the data and respective EC 50 (concentration at half-maximum effect) values compared. Protein binding differed significantly for ceftriaxone (P < 0.05) between human plasma (76.8 ؎ 11.0%) and commercially available bovine (20.2 ؎ 8.3%) or human serum albumin (56.9 ؎ 16.6%). Similar results were obtained for ertapenem (human plasma, 73.8 ؎ 11.6%; bovine serum albumin, 12.4 ؎ 4.8%; human serum albumin, 17.8 ؎ 11.5%). The MICs and EC 50 s of both strains were significantly increased (P < 0.05) for ceftriaxone when comparing human and bovine serum albumin, whereas the EC 50 s were not significantly different for ertapenem. Free, unbound antibiotic concentrations differed substantially between plasma and protein supplements and correlated well with antimicrobial efficacy. Therefore, free, active concentrations should be measured in the test system instead of correcting for literature protein binding values.

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Plasma concentrations of antimicrobial drugs have long been used to correlate exposure with effect, yet one cannot always assume that unbound plasma and tissue concentrations are similar. Knowledge about unbound tissue concentrations is important in the development of antimicrobial drugs, since most infections are localised in tissues. Therefore, a clinical microdialysis study was conducted to evaluate the distribution of tedizolid (TR-700), the active moiety of the antimicrobial prodrug tedizolid phosphate (TR-701), into interstitial fluid (ISF) of subcutaneous adipose and skeletal muscle tissues following a single oral 600 mg dose of tedizolid phosphate in fasting conditions. Twelve healthy adult subjects were enrolled. Two microdialysis probes were implanted into the thigh of each subject, one into the vastus medialis muscle and one into subcutaneous adipose tissue. Probes were calibrated using retrodialysis. Dialysate samples were collected every 20 min for 12 h following a single oral dose of 600 mg tedizolid phosphate, and blood samples were drawn over 24 h. Unbound tedizolid levels in plasma were similar to those in muscle and adipose tissue. The ratios of unbound (free) AUC in tissues over unbound AUC in plasma (fAUCtissue/fAUCplasma) were 1.1 ± 0.2 and 1.2 ± 0.2 for adipose and muscle tissue, respectively. The median half-life was 8.1, 9.2 and 9.6 h for plasma, adipose tissue and muscle tissue, respectively. Mean protein binding was 87.2 ± 1.8%. The study drug was very well tolerated. The results of this study show that tedizolid distributes well into ISF of adipose and muscle tissues. Unbound levels of tedizolid in plasma, adipose tissue and muscle tissue were well correlated. Free plasma levels are indicative of unbound levels in the ISF of muscle and adipose tissues.

Patients with multiple chronic conditions, including more advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), are often excluded from clinical trials, creating challenges in deriving appropriate dosing information and labeling. This article summarizes the May 7, 2019, US Food and Drug Administration Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology Advisory Committee Meeting, which solicited expert opinions on how to enroll patients with more advanced CKD into clinical trials as well as the assumptions behind and different approaches of exposure-matching.