Pharmacovigilance study of anti-infective-related acute kidney injury using the Japanese adverse drug event report database

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with significant increases in short- and long-term morbidity and mortality. Drug-induced AKI is a major concern in the present healthcare system. Our spontaneous reporting system (SRS) analysis assessed links between AKI, along with patients’ age, as healthcare-associated risks and administered anti-infectives. We also generated anti-infective-related AKI-onset profiles. METHOD: We calculated reporting odds ratios (RORs) for reports of anti-infective-related AKI (per Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities) in the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database and evaluated the effect of anti-infective combination therapy. The background factors of cases with anti-infective monotherapy and combination therapy (≥ 2 anti-infectives) were matched using propensity score. We evaluated time-to-onset data and hazard types using the Weibull parameter. RESULTS: Among 534,688 reports (submission period: April 2004–June 2018), there were 21,727 AKI events. The reported number of AKI associated with glycopeptide antibacterials, fluoroquinolones, third-generation cephalosporins, triazole derivatives, and carbapenems were 596, 494, 341, 315, and 313, respectively. Crude RORs of anti-infective-related AKI increased among older patients and were higher in anti-infective combination therapies [anti-infectives, ≥ 2; ROR, 1.94 (1.80–2.09)] than in monotherapies [ROR, 1.29 (1.22–1.36)]. After propensity score matching, the adjusted RORs of anti-infective monotherapy and combination therapy (≥ 2 anti-infectives) were 0.67 (0.58–0.77) and 1.49 (1.29–1.71), respectively. Moreover, 48.1% of AKI occurred within 5 days (median, 5.0 days) of anti-infective therapy initiation. CONCLUSION: RORs derived from our new SRS analysis indicate potential AKI risks and number of administered anti-infectives. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40360-021-00513-x.