ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting blood concentrations of voriconazole following letermovir coadministration using population pharmacokinetic (PPK) analysis in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) recipients. METHODS: The following data were retrospectively collected: voriconazole trough levels, patient characteristics, concomitant drugs, and laboratory information. PPK analysis was performed with NONMEM® version 7.4.3, using the first-order conditional estimation method with interaction. We collected data on plasma voriconazole steady-state trough concentrations at 216 timepoints for 47 patients. A nonlinear pharmacokinetic model with the Michaelis-Menten equation was applied to describe the relationship between steady-state trough concentration and daily maintenance dose of voriconazole. After stepwise covariate modeling, the final model was evaluated using a goodness-of-fit plot, case deletion diagnostics, and bootstrap methods. RESULTS: The maximum elimination rate (Vmax) of voriconazole in patients coadministered letermovir and methylprednisolone was 1.72 and 1.30 times larger than that in patients not coadministered these drugs, respectively, resulting in decreased voriconazole trough concentrations. The developed PPK model adequately described the voriconazole trough concentration profiles in allo-HSCT recipients. Simulations clearly showed that increased daily doses of voriconazole were required to achieve an optimal trough voriconazole concentration (1-5 mg/L) when patients received voriconazole with letermovir and/or methylprednisolone. CONCLUSIONS: The development of individualized dose adjustment is critical to achieve optimal voriconazole concentration, especially among allo-HSCT recipients receiving concomitant letermovir and/or methylprednisolone.
