- Guiastrennec, Benjamin;
- Ramachandran, Geetha;
- Karlsson, Mats O;
- Kumar, AK Hemanth;
- Bhavani, Perumal Kannabiran;
- Gangadevi, N Poorana;
- Swaminathan, Soumya;
- Gupta, Amita;
- Dooley, Kelly E;
- Savic, Radojka M
This work aimed to evaluate the once-daily antituberculosis treatment as recommended by the new Indian pediatric guidelines. Isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide concentration-time profiles and treatment outcome were obtained from 161 Indian children with drug-sensitive tuberculosis undergoing thrice-weekly dosing as per previous Indian pediatric guidelines. The exposure-response relationships were established using a population pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic approach. Rifampin exposure was identified as the unique predictor of treatment outcome. Consequently, children with low body weight (4-7 kg) and/or HIV infection, who displayed the lowest rifampin exposure, were associated with the highest probability of unfavorable treatment (therapy failure, death) outcome (Punfavorable ). Model-based simulation of optimized (Punfavorable ≤ 5%) rifampin once-daily doses were suggested per treatment weight band and HIV coinfection status (33% and 190% dose increase, respectively, from the new Indian guidelines). The established dose-exposure-response relationship could be pivotal in the development of future pediatric tuberculosis treatment guidelines.