Impact of Inflammation on Voriconazole Exposure in Critically ill Patients Affected by Probable COVID-19-Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis

Abstract

(1) Background: To explore the impact of the degree of inflammation on voriconazole exposure in critically ill patients affected by COVID-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA); (2) Methods: Critically ill patients receiving TDM-guided voriconazole for the management of proven or probable CAPA between January 2021 and December 2022 were included. The concentration/dose ratio (C/D) was used as a surrogate marker of voriconazole total clearance. A receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed by using C-reactive protein (CRP) or procalcitonin (PCT) values as the test variable and voriconazole C/D ratio > 0.375 (equivalent to a trough concentration [Cmin] value of 3 mg/L normalized to the maintenance dose of 8 mg/kg/day) as the state variable. Area under the curve (AUC) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated; (3) Results: Overall, 50 patients were included. The median average voriconazole Cmin was 2.47 (1.75–3.33) mg/L. The median (IQR) voriconazole concentration/dose ratio (C/D) was 0.29 (0.14–0.46). A CRP value > 11.46 mg/dL was associated with the achievement of voriconazole Cmin > 3 mg/L, with an AUC of 0.667 (95% CI 0.593–0.735; p < 0.001). A PCT value > 0.3 ng/mL was associated with the attainment of voriconazole Cmin > 3 mg/L (AUC 0.651; 95% CI 0.572–0.725; p = 0.0015). (4) Conclusions: Our findings suggest that in critically ill patients with CAPA, CRP and PCT values above the identified thresholds may cause the downregulation of voriconazole metabolism and favor voriconazole overexposure, leading to potentially toxic concentrations.

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“…Furthermore, more research is needed to describe the relationship between inflammation biomarkers, i.e., the host’s immune response, PK/PD parameters and TDM, more precisely. Gatti et al has shown that inflammation reflected in high plasma CRP and PCT concentrations may down-regulate the metabolism of voriconazole in patients with COVID-19-associated aspergillosis, resulting in potentially toxic voriconazole concentrations [ 43 ]. In antibiotics, exposure–response relationships using modelling approaches have been described in pharmacodynamics of vancomycin and CRP in adults [ 44 ], of teicoplanin and CRP in neonates [ 45 ] or in animal studies [ 23 ].…”