title: Dried blood spot measurement of tacrolimus is promising for patient monitoring.
abstract: The usefulness of dried blood spot (DBS) sampling for therapeutic drug monitoring of tacrolimus was investigated with renal transplant patients. There was no significant difference between the concentrations (ranging 3.33-53.9 mug/l) of 34 samples of 26 stable renal transplant outpatients, measured both after venous and DBS sampling. DBS sampling is easy to perform because concentrations with and without nurse assistance did not significantly differ. No significant difference was found between tacrolimus concentrations in 20 duplicate DBS samples before and after postal transport. DBS seems promising for routine patient monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University Hospital of Maastricht, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoogtanders
authors.forename: Jaques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Heijden
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Christiaans
authors.forename: Afke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van de Plas
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Hooff
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stolk
mesh_terms: D003890:Desiccation; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016559:Tacrolimus