Risk of Recurrent Acute Arterial Events Associated With Thiopurines and Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of acute arterial events. Treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents has been associated with a protective effect against the first occurrence of acute arterial events, but the impact of treatment with anti-TNF in patients with a previous history of acute arterial events remains unclear. We assessed the effect of anti-TNF and thiopurines on the risk of recurrent acute arterial events in patients with IBD in a nationwide cohort. METHODS: Based on the French nationwide health insurance database, patients with IBD and a previous history of an acute arterial event were followed up from January 1, 2009, until December 31, 2018. The risk of acute arterial event recurrence associated with anti-TNF and thiopurine exposure was assessed using marginal structural Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for baseline and time-varying covariates. RESULTS: A total of 27,185 patients were included. During 121,822 person-years (median follow-up period, 4.0 y), 6865 recurrent acute arterial events occurred (incidence rate per 1000 person-years, 56.4; 95% CI, 55.0-57.7). Exposure to both anti-TNF and thiopurines were associated with a decreased risk of recurrent acute arterial events compared with the absence of exposure to either treatment (hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.63-0.90 and hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.66-0.88, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In a nationwide cohort study of patients with IBD and a previous history of an acute arterial event, exposure to both anti-TNF and thiopurines were associated with a decreased risk of recurrent acute arterial events.

Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Simulations of Cost-Effective Dosage Regimens of Ceftolozane-Tazobactam and Ceftazidime-Avibactam in Patients with Renal Impairment.

The pharmacokinetics of ceftolozane-tazobactam (TOL-TAZ) and ceftazidime-avibactam (CEF-AVI) is influenced by renal function. Application of recommended dosages in patients with renal impairment requires the use of fractions of the full dose, as only one dosage is available for both antibiotics. The objective of this study was to evaluate the adequacy of alternative dosage regimens based on the full dose. We performed pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) simulations of recommended and alternative dosage regimens in patients with various degrees of renal impairment by using the Pmetrics program. Alternative regimens included longer dosage interval and prolonged infusions of the full dose for both drugs. Probabilities of target attainment (PTA) were assessed considering PK/PD targets defined for cephalosporins and beta-lactamase inhibitors as well as MIC breakpoints. The risk of overexposure was also assessed. Results showed that alternative dosage regimens based on a full dose of TOL-TAZ and CEF-AVI administered every 12 or 24 h were associated with PTA similar to that of recommended dosages, especially when administered as prolonged infusion. The alternative dosage regimens were not associated with overexposure in most cases. In addition, those regimens could reduce dosing errors, drug cost, and nurse labor. Clinical investigation ovf those alternative dosage regimens would be required before implementation.