title: Reliability of salivary theophylline in monitoring the treatment for apnoea of prematurity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the reliability of salivary levels of theophylline in monitoring therapy of apnoea of prematurity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Aminophylline was administered intravenously in 13 infants with apnoea, in a loading dose of 5 mg/kg and maintenance dose of 3 mg/kg, every 8 h. The patients were divided into two groups according to their postconceptional age (PCA): group A, of infants with small PCA (32.8+/-2.0 weeks; n=6 cases), and group B, infants with higher PCA (37.1+/-0.8 weeks; n=7 cases).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 57 paired samples of serum and saliva were obtained in all 13 infants. The mean serum level of theophylline was 7.8+/-5.8 microg/ml and the ratio between serum and salivary concentration of theophylline was 1.53+/-0.28. A strong correlation between the serum and salivary concentration of theophylline (r=0.973) was found. Infants with small PCA had significant higher serum concentration of theophylline than those with higher PCA (10.6 vs 5.3 microg/ml; P=0.0002). The difference between the mean ratios of serum/salivary theophylline levels in the two groups was low (1.44 vs 1.62; P=0.0155).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The strong correlation of theophylline in serum and in saliva recommends the salivary levels as a reliable method for monitoring the treatment of apnoea of prematurity.
authors: The 3rd Pediatric Clinic, University of Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. pusacherechespanta@gmail.com
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Chereches-Panta
authors: M V
authors: MV
authors: Nanulescu
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Culea
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Palibroda
mesh_terms: D000628:Aminophylline / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001049:Apnea / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013806:Theophylline / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D000628:Aminophylline; D013806:Theophylline