Optimal designs for population pharmacokinetic studies of oral artesunate in patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Currently, population pharmacokinetic (PK) studies of anti-malarial drugs are designed primarily by the logistical and ethical constraints of taking blood samples from patients, and the statistical models that are fitted to the data are not formally considered. This could lead to imprecise estimates of the target PK parameters, and/or designs insufficient to estimate all of the parameters. Optimal design methodology has been developed to determine blood sampling schedules that will yield precise parameter estimates within the practical constraints of sampling the study populations. In this work optimal design methods were used to determine sampling designs for typical future population PK studies of dihydroartemisinin, the principal biologically active metabolite of oral artesunate.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Optimal designs were derived using freely available software and were based on appropriate structural PK models from an analysis of data or the literature and key sampling constraints identified in a questionnaire sent to active malaria researchers (3-4 samples per patient, at least 15 minutes between samples). The derived optimal designs were then evaluated via simulation-estimation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The derived optimal sampling windows were 17 to 29 minutes, 30 to 57 minutes, 2.5 to 3.7 hours and 5.8 to 6.6 hours for non-pregnant adults; 16 to 29 minutes, 31 minutes to 1 hour, 2.0 to 3.4 hours and 5.5 to 6.6 hours for designs with non-pregnant adults and children and 35 to 59 minutes, 1.2 to 3.4 hours, 3.4 to 4.9 hours and 6.0 to 8.0 hours for pregnant women. The optimal designs resulted in acceptable precision of the PK parameters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The proposed sampling designs in this paper are robust and efficient and should be considered in future PK studies of oral artesunate where only three or four blood samples can be collected.</p

Adolescents’ use of purpose built shade in secondary schools: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To examine whether students use or avoid newly shaded areas created by shade sails installed at schools

Defining the True Sensitivity of Culture for the Diagnosis of Melioidosis Using Bayesian Latent Class Models

BACKGROUND: Culture remains the diagnostic gold standard for many bacterial infections, and the method against which other tests are often evaluated. Specificity of culture is 100% if the pathogenic organism is not found in healthy subjects, but the sensitivity of culture is more difficult to determine and may be low. Here, we apply Bayesian latent class models (LCMs) to data from patients with a single Gram-negative bacterial infection and define the true sensitivity of culture together with the impact of misclassification by culture on the reported accuracy of alternative diagnostic tests. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Data from published studies describing the application of five diagnostic tests (culture and four serological tests) to a patient cohort with suspected melioidosis were re-analysed using several Bayesian LCMs. Sensitivities, specificities, and positive and negative predictive values (PPVs and NPVs) were calculated. Of 320 patients with suspected melioidosis, 119 (37%) had culture confirmed melioidosis. Using the final model (Bayesian LCM with conditional dependence between serological tests), the sensitivity of culture was estimated to be 60.2%. Prediction accuracy of the final model was assessed using a classification tool to grade patients according to the likelihood of melioidosis, which indicated that an estimated disease prevalence of 61.6% was credible. Estimates of sensitivities, specificities, PPVs and NPVs of four serological tests were significantly different from previously published values in which culture was used as the gold standard. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Culture has low sensitivity and low NPV for the diagnosis of melioidosis and is an imperfect gold standard against which to evaluate alternative tests. Models should be used to support the evaluation of diagnostic tests with an imperfect gold standard. It is likely that the poor sensitivity/specificity of culture is not specific for melioidosis, but rather a generic problem for many bacterial and fungal infections

A robust design for identification of the Parasite Clearance Estimator

BACKGROUND: Anti-malarial efficacy needs to be monitored continually to ensure optimal dosing in the face of emerging anti-malarial drug resistance. The efficacy of artemisinin based combination therapies (ACT) is assessed by repeated measurements of parasite density in the blood of patients following treatment. Parasite density is measured from a capillary or venous blood sample, but this can be logistically and ethically challenging if multiple samples are required within a short time period. The aim of this work was to apply optimal design theory to derive clinically feasible blood sampling schedules from which parasite clearance could be defined using the Parasite Clearance Estimator (PCE), a recently developed tool to identify and quantify artemisinin resistance. METHODS: Robust T-optimal design methodology was applied to offer a sampling schedule that allows for discrimination across models that best describe an individual patient's parasite-time profile. The design was based on typical parasite-time profiles derived from the literature combined with key sampling constraints of no more than six samples per patient within 48 hours of initial treatment. The design was evaluated with a simulation-estimation procedure that implemented the PCE. RESULTS: The optimal sampling times (sampling windows) were: 0 (0 to 1.1), 5.8 (4.0 to 6.0), 9.9 (8.4 to 11.5), 24.8 (24.0 to 24.9), 36.3 (34.8 to 37.2) and 48 (47.3, 48.0) hours post initial treatment. The simulation-estimation procedure showed that the design supported identification of the appropriate method by the PCE to determine an individual's parasite clearance rate constant (the main output calculation from the PCE). CONCLUSIONS: The proposed sampling design requires six samples per patient within the first 48 hours. The derived design requires validation in a real world setting, but should be considered for future studies that intend to employ the PCE

Reporting a population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic study: a journal's perspective

The key purpose of performing pharmacometric research is to aid optimization of drug dosing strategies. The statistical techniques required for this research are advanced, which can make interpretation of results difficult to convey to the target audience if they are unfamiliar with pharmacometric concepts. This article provides a basic guide for authors who wish to publish pharmacometric analyses in peer-reviewed journals. This guide is intended to enhance the readability, reproducibility and understanding of the work for a general readership, which may include clinicians, pharmacists and pharmacometricians. Presentation techniques and examples are offered, as well as a checklist of suggested contents for the manuscript

BuddyShare : La millor manera per compartir les despeses

Les despeses són uns elements que estan molt presents en la nostre vida diària. Hi ha despeses que son individuals i altres de col·lectives. En les despeses col·lectives s'han de gestionar els participants, la quantitat que paga cadascú ( no sempre és proporcional) i qui ha realitzat el pagament. Les despeses són uns elements que estan molt presents en la nostre vida diària. Hi ha despeses que son individuals i altres de col·lectives. En les despeses col·lectives s'han de gestionar els participants, la quantitat que paga cadascú ( no sempre és proporcional) i qui ha realitzat el pagament.Expenses are some elements that are very present in our daily lives. There are individual expenses and other collective. In collective expenses should manage participants, the amount pays each person (not always proportional) and who has made the payment. Expenses are some elements that are very present in our daily lives. There are individual expenses and other collective. In collective expenses should manage participants, the amount pays each person (not always proportional) and who has made the payment.Los gastos son unos elementos que están muy presentes en nuestra vida diaria. Hay gastos que son individuales y otros colectivos. En los gastos colectivos se han de gestionar los participantes, la cantidad que paga cada uno ( no siempre es proporcional ) y quien ha realizado el pago. Los gastos son unos elementos que están muy presentes en nuestra vida diaria. Hay gastos que son individuales y otros colectivos. En los gastos colectivos se han de gestionar los participantes, la cantidad que paga cada uno ( no siempre es proporcional ) y quien ha realizado el pago

Towards optimal design of anti-malarial pharmacokinetic studies

Abstract Background Characterization of anti-malarial drug concentration profiles is necessary to optimize dosing, and thereby optimize cure rates and reduce both toxicity and the emergence of resistance. Population pharmacokinetic studies determine the drug concentration time profiles in the target patient populations, including children who have limited sampling options. Currently, population pharmacokinetic studies of anti-malarial drugs are designed based on logistical, financial and ethical constraints, and prior knowledge of the drug concentration time profile. Although these factors are important, the proposed design may be unable to determine the desired pharmacokinetic profile because there was no formal consideration of the complex statistical models used to analyse the drug concentration data. Methods Optimal design methods incorporate prior knowledge of the pharmacokinetic profile of the drug, the statistical methods used to analyse data from population pharmacokinetic studies, and also the practical constraints of sampling the patient population. The methods determine the statistical efficiency of the design by evaluating the information of the candidate study design prior to the pharmacokinetic study being conducted. Results In a hypothetical population pharmacokinetic study of intravenous artesunate, where the number of patients and blood samples to be assayed was constrained to be 50 and 200 respectively, an evaluation of varying elementary designs using optimal design methods found that the designs with more patients and less samples per patient improved the precision of the pharmacokinetic parameters and inter-patient variability, and the overall statistical efficiency by at least 50%. Conclusion Optimal design methods ensure that the proposed study designs for population pharmacokinetic studies are robust and efficient. It is unethical to continue conducting population pharmacokinetic studies when the sampling schedule may be insufficient to estimate precisely the pharmacokinetic profile.</p