Population pharmacokinetics of mycophenolate mofetil in pediatric patients early after liver transplantation

Objective: To investigate the factors influencing the pharmacokinetics of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) in pediatric patients after liver transplantation, and to establish a population pharmacokinetics model, which can provide a reference for clinical dosage adjustment. Methods: A prospective study in a single center was performed on pediatric patients who were administrated with mycophenolate mofetil dispersible tablets (MMFdt) for at least 4 days after liver transplantation continuously. Blood samples were collected in ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid anticoagulant tubes before dosing and 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 h after the morning intake of MMFdt. The concentrations of mycophenolic acid (MPA) in plasma were assayed with a validated reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method. UGT1A8 518C > G, UGT1A9 -275T > A, UGT1A9 -2152C > T, UGT2B7 211G > T, SLC O 1B1 521T > C polymorphism were determined by Sanger sequencing. Nonlinear mixed effects modeling was used to establish the population pharmacokinetics (PPK) model. The predictability and stability of the model were internally evaluated by the goodness of fit plots, visual prediction check, normalized prediction errors, and bootstraps. Results: A two-compartment model with first-order absorption and first-order elimination was established with 115 MPA concentrations from 20 pediatric patients. The final model were: CL/F (L/h) = 14.8×(WT/7.5)(0.75)×(DOSE/11.16)(0.452)×е(0.06), Ka (h(−1)) = 2.02×(WT/7.5)(−0.25), Vc/F (L) = 6.01×(WT/7.5), Vp/F (L) = 269 (fixed), Q/F (L/h) = 15.4×(WT/7.5)(0.75)×е(1.39). Where CL/F was the apparent clearance rate, Ka was the absorption rate constant, Vc/F was the apparent distribution volume of the central compartment, Vp/F was the apparent distribution volume of the peripheral compartment, Q/F was the atrioventricular clearance rate, WT was the body weight of the subject, and DOSE was the MMFdt administered dose. The model indicated there was large inter-individual variability in CL/F and Q/F after multiple dosing of MMFdt. Internal evaluation results showed that the final model had good stability and prediction performance. Conclusion: A stable and predictive population pharmacokinetic model of MMFdt in pediatric patients after the early stage of liver transplantation was established. The pediatric patient’s weight and the dose of MMFdt can be a reference to adjust the MMFdt dose.