Pharmacokinetic evaluation of colistin sodium.

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD: Although colistin has recently played a key role in the treatment of nosocomial infections due to multidrug resistant Gram-negative pathogens, there is a lack of clinical studies examining colistin pharmacokinetics (PKs) in humans. This refers to all routes of colistin administration in clinical practice. Colistin PK data are also limited in critically ill patients. AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW: Literature search took into account data dealing with colistin PK obtained from animal studies performed during previous decades (1970s, 1980s and 1990s) and from recent human studies performed during the last decade. WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN: Valuable information on pharmacodynamics (PD)/PK of colistin used in the treatments of nosocomial infections due to multidrug resistant Gram-negative pathogens, mostly Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. A better understanding of PKs could offer significant improvement of colistin use in humans, especially optimization of colistin doses in different routes of administration in order to maximize clinical efficacy and minimize adverse effects and rate of resistance. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: There is a lack of human studies on colistin PK and PD. Significant PD parameters best predicting colistin efficacy and their optimal values such as C(max):MIC ratio, AUC/MIC and T > MIC have not yet been clearly defined. It should be noted that further investigation on colistin PK/PD in vitro and in vivo models is required.