Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antimicrobial drugs.
BACKGROUND
Antimicrobial drugs exhibit different characteristics in their correlation between antimicrobial drug concentrations and effects on microorganisms. These correlations have been studied using different approaches including in vitro analyses with constant and fluctuating concentrations and in vivo analyses involving animals and humans. Mathematical analysis includes correlation of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) indices to an outcome parameter. Further insight can be gained by mechanism-based modelling of antimicrobial drug effects.


RESULTS
This review aims to provide an overview on the various approaches used to analyse antimicrobial pharmacodynamics, to discuss the limitations of these approaches, to indicate recent developments and to summarise the current knowledge on PK-PD target values as derived from human studies.


CONCLUSIONS
It is expected that PK-PD analysis of antimicrobial drug effects will lead to a more efficient and possibly also less toxic antimicrobial drug therapy.
Department of Internal Medicine VI, Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoepidemiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
David
D
Czock
Christoph
C
Markert
Bertram
B
Hartman
Frieder
F
Keller
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents