title: Cyclosporine short infusion and C2 monitoring in haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.
abstract: Blood concentrations of cyclosporine A (CsA) >or=800 microg/l measured 2 h post-dosing, the C2 concentration, is necessary to obtain a maximal pharmacological effect and correlates well with transplant-related complications such as transplant rejection and toxicity. In an open crossover study CsA blood levels were measured during 24 h to generate a pharmacokinetic profile on days 1, 8 and 15 after starting CsA infusion in 21 haematopoietic allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients who were receiving intravenously CsA 3 mg/kg/day either by continuous infusion or by 2 h infusion given every 12 h. C2 levels after the 2 h infusion correlated better than C1 or C3 levels with the area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 4 h (r2=0.62). C2 levels >or=800 microg/l were also achieved for 20 out of 24 (83%) of cases after the 2 h infusion of CsA without any increase of CsA-related toxicity but for only three of the 23 patients (13%) after continuous infusion. Therefore, we recommend CsA infusions in 2 h during transplant and perform C2 monitoring to obtain therapeutic C2 levels >or=800 microg/l.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. M.Hendriks@AIG.umcn.nl
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.forename: N M A
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Blijlevens
authors.forename: A V M B
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Schattenberg
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Donnelly
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000517:prevention & control; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016572:Cyclosporine