Optimal dose administration of renally excreted drugs

The paper presents and discusses a basic pharmacokinetic model for vancomycin, an antibiotic that is principally excreted by kidneys. The model accounts for the degree of renal function by employing the CKD-EPI equation. Only one parameter of the model is identified by a nonlinear regression of experimental data, while the other parameters are evaluated a priori via correlations from the scientific literature. We simulate the pharmacokinetic time-curves of vancomycin by accounting for different values of the glomerular filtration rate and show the strong influence of the degree of renal function on the drug pharmacokinetics. In addition, the model can be used to determine the optimal dose for patients featuring varying degrees of renal function. Results underline the importance of individualized treatment.