2026 · Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · open access
Population pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation-informed ceftazidime dosing in Chinese neonates using quantitative dried blood spot micro-sampling
Yin et al.
The finding, in our words
Using quantitative dried blood spot microsampling from 72 neonates, the authors developed a population pharmacokinetic model for ceftazidime that identified postmenstrual age and body weight as significant covariates influencing drug clearance and volume of distribution. Monte Carlo simulations supported dosing regimens of 25 mg/kg every 6-8 hours or 75 mg/kg every 12 hours for neonates 32-42 weeks postmenstrual age, demonstrating feasibility of decentralised therapeutic drug monitoring in vulnerable paediatric populations.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
The study compared quantitative dried blood spot (qDBS) and volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) devices for measuring ganciclovir levels in capillary blood from pediatric renal transplant recipients. This comparison provides evidence for choosing between microsampling devices in therapeutic drug monitoring, supporting decentralised sampling approaches that reduce patient burden while maintaining analytical accuracy.
Kocur et al., European journal of pharmaceutical sciences : official journal of the European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (paywalled) · source ↗
The authors validated a UPLC-PDA assay for ceftazidime in 10 microlitre dried blood spots collected with the Capitainer device from neonatal patients, achieving accuracy of 90.1 to 104.8 per cent and precision within 11.7 per cent coefficient of variation across a quantification range of 0.5 to 200 micrograms per millilitre, and confirmed the method worked on clinical neonatal samples. This supports microsampling-based therapeutic drug monitoring of an antimicrobial in a vulnerable population where conventional venous blood draws are difficult.
Lv et al., Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis (paywalled) · source ↗
A validated high-throughput LC-MS/MS assay for piperaquine from dried blood spots achieved 54-72% recovery with <9% relative standard deviation and a quantification limit of 3 ng/mL, enabling detection for 4-8 weeks post-dose. The method showed minimal haematocrit interference and is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring of antimalarial treatment in resource-limited settings and pediatric populations.
Blessborn et al., Journal of mass spectrometry and advances in the clinical lab · source ↗
An IQ Consortium position paper from sponsor scientists positioning patient-centric sampling as the enabling technology for decentralised trials, and stating that a bridging study against conventional sampling “has quickly been established as a regulatory expectation”.
Maass et al., Clinical and Translational Science · source ↗
This pilot study validated a microsampling platform for therapeutic drug monitoring of vancomycin, meropenem, and linezolid in critically ill children. Dried blood spots and capillary microsamples correlated strongly (r=0.98), showed acceptable accuracy and precision, and remained stable at room temperature for at least two days (DBS) and eight hours (CMS), enabling personalised antimicrobial dosing in a decentralised setting.
Xiaoyong et al., Frontiers in pediatrics · source ↗