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Updated: Sep 11, 2025
Quantification of the Immunosuppressant Tacrolimus on Dried Blood Spots Using LC-MS/MS
Published on: November 8, 2015
A Tacrolimus Population Pharmacokinetic Model for Adult Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients Provides
Tyler C Dunlap1, Jing Zhu1, Daniel L Weiner1
1Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Background:
Tacrolimus is a cornerstone of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) prophylaxis in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) recipients. However, a narrow therapeutic index and high interindividual variability in pharmacokinetics (PK) make starting dose selection a major challenge in clinical practice.
Methods:
Data from two PK studies conducted at the University of North Carolina Medical Center (UNCMC) were used to develop an oral tacrolimus population pharmacokinetic (popPK) model specific to adult allo-HCT recipients. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to compare the likelihood of achieving the UNCMC institutional target trough concentration range (ITR) (5-10 ng/mL) on the day of transplant (D0) under the current institutional dosing protocol, dosing recommendations from the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC), and model-derived dosing recommendations.
Results:
In total, 290 allo-HCT recipients contributed a total of 906 PK samples to the final analysis. A two-compartment popPK model adequately described the PK data. Population typical values of apparent clearance (TVCL/F) for 70 kg individuals receiving reduced intensity conditioning were 0.33 L/h/kg for CYP3A5 poor metabolizers (PMs) and 0.70 L/h/kg for intermediate and normal metabolizers (IMs and NMs). The probability of the population-level average D0 trough concentration being within the UNCMC ITR under the current UNCMC weight-based dosing protocol, CPIC-based, and model-derived dosing strategies were estimated to be 37%, 45%, and 76%, respectively. CYP3A5 IMs and NMs were predicted to require a 100% dose increase relative to CYP3A5 PMs.
Conclusions:
We propose a new oral tacrolimus dosing strategy for adult allo-HCT recipients, which suggests the current weight-based dosing paradigm is insufficient. This new strategy includes CYP3A5 metabolizer phenotypes and conditioning regimen intensity, and could increase the percentage of allo-HCT recipients achieving target concentrations on D0.
Clinical Trial Registration Number:
Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04645667.
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