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Dosage individualization in children: integration of pharmacometrics in clinical practice

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Abstract

Background

Children are in a continuous and dynamically changing state of growth and development. A thorough understanding of developmental pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) is required to optimize drug therapy in children.

Data sources

Based on recent publications and the experience of our group, we present an outline on integrating pharmacometrics in pediatric clinical practice to develop evidence-based personalized pharmacotherapy.

Results

Antibiotics in septic neonates and immunosuppressants in pediatric transplant recipients are provided as proof-of-concept to demonstrate the utility of pharmacometrics in clinical practice. Dosage individualization based on developmental PK-PD model has potential benefits of improving the efficacy and safety of drug therapy in children.

Conclusion

The pharmacometric technique should be better developed and used in clinical practice to personalize drug therapy in children in order to decrease variability of drug exposure and associated risks of overdose or underdose.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China

    Wei Zhao

  2. Department of Pediatric Pharmacology and Pharmacogenetics, Hôpital Robert Debré, APHP, Paris, France

    Wei Zhao, Stéphanie Leroux & Evelyne Jacqz-Aigrain

  3. Clinical Investigation Center CIC1426, INSERM, Paris, France

    Wei Zhao & Evelyne Jacqz-Aigrain

  4. EA7323, Université Paris Diderot-Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

    Wei Zhao, Stéphanie Leroux & Evelyne Jacqz-Aigrain

  5. Division of Neonatology, Department of Child and Adolescent Medicine, CHU de Rennes, Rennes, France

    Stéphanie Leroux

  6. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, China

    Wei Zhao

  7. Department of Pediatric Pharmacology and Pharmacogenetics, Hôpital Robert Debré, 48 Boulevard Sérurier, 75935, Paris Cedex 19, France

    Wei Zhao

Authors
  1. Wei Zhao
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  2. Stéphanie Leroux
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  3. Evelyne Jacqz-Aigrain
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Correspondence to Wei Zhao.

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Zhao, W., Leroux, S. & Jacqz-Aigrain, E. Dosage individualization in children: integration of pharmacometrics in clinical practice. World J Pediatr 10, 197–203 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-014-0493-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-014-0493-x

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