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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2006, p. 243-249, Vol. 50, No. 1
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.50.1.243-249.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine,1 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin2
Received 3 August 2005/ Returned for modification 7 September 2005/ Accepted 10 October 2005
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The goals of our experiments were to characterize the in vivo time course antimicrobial activity of XRP 2868 and determine the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameter and parameter magnitude predictive of efficacy.
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In vitro susceptibility studies. The MICs of XRP 2868, penicillin, methicillin, and erythromycin for the various isolates were determined by standard Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute microdilution methods.
Murine infection model. Animals were maintained in accordance with the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care criteria. All animal studies were approved by the Animal Research Committee of the William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital.
Six-week-old, specific-pathogen-free, female ICR/Swiss mice weighing 23 to 27 g were used for all studies (Harlan Sprague-Dawley, Indianapolis, IN). Mice were rendered neutropenic (neutrophils, <100/mm3) by injecting them with cyclophosphamide (Mead Johnson Pharmaceuticals, Evansville, IN) intraperitoneally 4 days (150 mg/kg) and 1 day (100 mg/kg) before thigh infection. Previous studies have shown that this regimen produces neutropenia in this model for 5 days. Broth cultures of freshly plated bacteria were grown to logarithmic phase overnight to an absorbance at 580 nm of 0.3 (Spectronic 88; Bausch and Lomb, Rochester, NY). After a 1:10 dilution into fresh Mueller-Hinton broth, bacterial counts of the inoculum ranged from 106.1 to 108.3 CFU/ml. Thigh infections with each of the isolates were produced by injection of 0.1 ml of inoculum into the thighs of halothane-anesthetized mice 2 h before therapy with XRP 2868.
Murine lung infection model. Stationary-phase broth cultures of S. pneumoniae strain ATCC 10813 or S. aureus strain ATCC 29213 were obtained by overnight incubation. Cultures were centrifuged at 10,000 x g for 20 min and washed twice in 0.9% saline before being resuspended in saline. Diffuse pneumonia in mice was induced by an intranasal inoculation of 50 µl of 108.0 CFU/ml inoculum. Antimicrobial therapy was initiated 2 h after the infection procedure.
Drug pharmacokinetics. Single-dose serum pharmacokinetic studies were performed in thigh-infected mice given oral doses (0.2 ml/dose) of XRP 2868 (10, 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg). For each of the doses and time points examined, three mice were sampled by cardiac puncture. Sampling time intervals ranged from 0.25 to 16 h over a period of 24 h. Samples were then centrifuged for 5 min at 10,000 x g, and serum was removed and frozen at 80°C until assay. Serum XRP 2868 concentrations were determined by an liquid chromatography mass spectrometry method at Aventis. The lower limit of detection of the liquid chromatography mass spectrometry assay was 20 ng/ml. Assay variation was less than 8.7%. Pharmacokinetic constants, including elimination half-life, area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), and peak level were calculated using a noncompartmental model. Protein binding in the serum of neutropenic infected mice was performed using ultrafiltration methods (6).
Treatment protocols. (i) In vivo PAE. Two hours after infection with S. pneumoniae strain ATCC 10813 or S. aureus strain ATCC 29213, neutropenic mice were treated with single oral doses of XRP 2868 (2.5, 10, or 40 mg/kg). Groups of two treated and untreated control mice each were sacrificed at sampling intervals ranging from 1 to 6 h. Control growth was determined at seven sampling times over 24 h. The treated groups were sampled nine times over 24 h. The thighs were removed at each time point and processed immediately for CFU determination. The time that the levels of XRP 2868 (total and free drug) in the serum remained above the MIC for the organisms were calculated from the pharmacokinetic studies. The postantibiotic effect (PAE) was calculated by subtracting the time it took for organisms to increase 1 log in the thighs of saline-treated animals from the time it took organisms to grow the same amount in treated animals after serum levels fell below the MIC for the infecting organism (5) (PAE = T C, where C is the time for 1 log10 control growth and T is the time for 1 log10 treatment growth after levels have fallen below MIC).
(ii) PK/PD parameter determination. Neutropenic mice were infected with a strain of either penicillin-susceptible S. pneumoniae ATCC 10813 or methicillin-susceptible S. aureus ATCC 29213. Treatment with XRP 2868 was initiated 2 h after infection. Groups of two mice were treated for 24 h with 20 different dosing regimens using twofold-increasing total doses divided into one, two, four, or eight doses. Total doses of XRP 2868 ranged 256-fold (2.5 to 640 mg/kg/24 h). Drug doses were administered orally in 0.2-ml volumes. The mice were sacrificed after 24 h of therapy and the thighs removed and processed for CFU determination. Untreated control mice were sacrificed just before treatment and after 24 h.
(iii) PK/PD parameter magnitude studies. Similar dosing studies using six fourfold-increasing XRP 2868 doses administered every 6 h were utilized to treat thigh-infected neutropenic animals with nine strains of S. pneumoniae (one penicillin-susceptible, four penicillin-intermediate, four penicillin-resistant) and six macrolide-resistant S. pneumoniae strains and four strains of S. aureus (three methicillin-susceptible and one methicillin-resistant strain). The XRP 2868 MICs for the organisms studied varied only fourfold. The total daily dose of XRP 2868 used in these studies varied from 0.625 to 2,560 mg/kg/day.
(iv) Impact of host infection site and immune status. Two additional dosing studies were designed to determine the impact of infection site and host immune state. In the first, the in vivo efficacy of XRP 2868 was compared in the pneumonia and thigh infection models using both S. aureus strain ATCC 29213 and S. pneumoniae strain ATCC 10813. In the second study, the activity of XRP 2868 in neutropenic mice was compared to that of nonneutropenic mice infected with S. pneumoniae by the thigh infection model.
Data analysis. The results of these studies were analyzed using the sigmoid dose-effect model. The model, as follows, is derived from the Hill equation: E = [Emax x DN]/[ED50N + DN], where E is the effect or, in this case, the log change in CFU per thigh between treated mice and untreated controls after the 24-h period of study, Emax is the maximum effect, D is the 24-h total dose, ED50 is the dose required to achieve 50% of Emax, and N is the slope of the dose-effect curve. The indices Emax, ED50, and N were calculated using nonlinear least-squares regression. The correlation between efficacy and each of the three PK/PD parameters (T>MIC, AUC/MIC, peak/MIC) studied was determined by nonlinear least-squares multivariate regression (Sigma Stat; Jandel Scientific Software, San Rafael, CA). The coefficient of determination, or R2, was used to estimate the variance that could be due to regression with each of the PK/PD parameters.
We utilized the 24-h static dose as well as the doses necessary to achieve both the 1 and 2 log10 reduction in colony counts compared to numbers at the start of therapy to compare the impact of the dosing interval on treatment efficacy. If these dose values remained similar among each of the dosing intervals, this would support the 24-h AUC/MIC as the predictive parameter. If the dose values increased as the dosing interval was lengthened, this would suggest that T>MIC is the predictive parameter. Lastly, if the dose values decreased as the dosing interval was increased, this would support peak/MIC as the pharmacodynamically important parameter.
To allow a comparison of the potency of XRP 2868 against a variety of organisms, we utilized the 24-h static dose. The magnitude of the PK/PD parameter associated with each endpoint dose was calculated from the following equation:
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TABLE 1. In vitro susceptibility of XRP 2868, penicillin, methicillin, and erythromycin against S. pneumoniae and S. aureus
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FIG. 1. Serum XRP 2868 concentrations after administration of single doses of 10, 40, 80, and 160 mg/kg in neutropenic infected mice. Each symbol represents the mean ± standard deviation of the levels in the sera of three mice. t1/2, serum elimination half-life in hours; Cmax, peak serum level.
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FIG. 2. In vivo PAE of XRP 2868 after administration of single doses of 2.5, 10, and 40 mg/kg against S. pneumoniae strain ATCC 10813 and S. aureus strain ATCC 29213. Each symbol represents the mean ± standard deviation for two mice. Width of horizontal bars represents the duration of time total serum levels exceeded the MIC for the infecting pathogen.
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FIG. 3. (a) Relationship between XRP 2868 dosing interval and efficacy against S. aureus strain ATCC 29213 in a murine thigh infection model. Each symbol represents the mean datum per mouse from two thighs. (b) Relationship between XRP 2868 dosing interval and efficacy against S. pneumoniae strain ATCC 10813 in a murine thigh infection model. Each symbol represents the mean datum per mouse from two thighs.
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TABLE 2. Impact of dose fractionation on efficacy of a new streptogramin, XRP 2868, against S. pneumoniae and S. aureus
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FIG. 4. (a) Relationships of the XRP 2868 free-drug 24-h AUC/MIC, the percentage of the dosing interval that levels in serum remain above the MIC, and the peak/MIC (Cmax) for S. pneumoniae strain ATCC 10813 with the log10 CFU/thigh after 24 h of therapy. Each symbol represents the mean datum per mouse from two thighs. R2 is the coefficient of determination. (b) Relationships of the XRP 2868 free-drug 24-h AUC/MIC, the percentage of the dosing interval that levels in serum remaining above the MIC, and the peak/MIC for S. aureus strain ATCC 29213 with the log10 CFU/thigh after 24 h of therapy. Each symbol represents the mean datum per mouse from two thighs. R2 is the coefficient of determination.
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TABLE 3. Relationship between the streptogramin XRP 2868 MIC of S. pneumoniae and S. aureus and efficacy
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The relationship between the 24-h free-drug AUC/MIC and efficacy against the two organism groups is demonstrated graphically in Fig. 5. The dose-response relationships were relatively strong, with a R2 value of 95%.
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FIG. 5. The relationship between the XRP 2868 free-drug 24-h AUC/MIC and efficacy against nine S. pneumoniae and four S. aureus isolates. Each symbol represents the mean datum per mouse from two thighs. R2 is the coefficient of determination.
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FIG. 6. The impact of infection site on the in vivo activity of XRP 2868 against S. pneumoniae and S. aureus. Each hollow symbol represents the mean datum per mouse from two thighs. Each solid symbol represents the mean datum per two mice from lungs.
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TABLE 4. Impact of infection site and neutrophils on efficacy of a new streptogramin, XRP 2868, against S. pneumoniae and S. aureus
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FIG. 7. The impact of neutrophils on the in vivo activity of XRP 2868 against S. pneumoniae. Each hollow symbol represents the mean datum per nonneutropenic mouse from two thighs. Each solid symbol represents the mean datum per neutropenic mouse from two thighs.
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The current studies characterized the in vivo pharmacodynamic activity of a new streptogramin, XRP 2868. Penicillin and macrolide resistance in S. pneumoniae and methicillin resistance in S. aureus had no impact upon the in vitro and in vivo potency of XRP 2868. The activity against ErmB isolates is different from that identified for quinupristin-dalfopristin, for which in vivo activity was less than that anticipated based upon the MIC. Similar to studies with the streptogramin quinupristin-dalfopristin, the antimicrobial activity of this streptogramin was enhanced by escalating drug concentrations (2, 4, 10). The in vivo PAEs were of moderate duration against the S. pneumoniae and S. aureus isolates studied. One would predict that the AUC/MIC would be the PK/PD parameter that most strongly correlated with efficacy of XRP 2868, given this pattern of antimicrobial activity. Data from the current multiple-dosing regimen studies confirmed that the 24-h AUC/MIC is the best PK/PD predictor of efficacy of this new streptogramin.
The amount of XRP 2868 or parameter magnitude associated with in vivo efficacy was similar between the pneumococci and staphylocci examined. The mean total drug 24-h AUC/MICs associated with a net static effect ranged from near 15 to 32. The AUC/MIC targets associated with organism reductions of 1 and 2 log10 were 2.5- to 3.2-fold and 4- to 9-fold larger that those associated with a static effect, respectively. Protein binding in infected mice ranged from 60 to 70% and was similar to that in humans.
The current in vivo studies also examined outcome at two sites of infection to determine the impact of this variable on the magnitude of the pharmacodynamic target associated with efficacy. There was a trend toward enhanced activity in the lung compared to the thigh; however, the differences were not statistically significant. It is possible that this trend, in effect, could be due to elevated epithelial lining fluid concentrations of XRP 2868 relative to serum. We are unaware of epithelial lining fluid pharmacokinetic investigations with this or other streptogramins. The impact of one arm of the host immune system was similarly examined by utilizing mice with neutropenia and nonneutropenia. The neutrophils appeared to have minimal impact on the amount of drug needed for treatment efficacy of the streptogramin.
While XRP 2868 has not yet undergone extensive clinical investigation, the current studies suggest that the relationship between the pharmacokinetics of this streptogramin and efficacy is similar to quinupristin-dalfopristin. The 24-h AUC/MIC was the most important pharmacodynamic parameter for describing the in vivo activity. The 24-h AUC/MIC target associated with a net static effect was a value near 25. This pharmacodynamic target should be considered in the design of dosing regimens for clinical trials with this compound.
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