Clinical implications of antibiotic pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic parameters

The progress in the knowledge of antibiotic action mechanism have led to determine phamacodynamic/pharmacokinetic (PK/PD) parameters predictive of antibiotic efficacy in bacterial infections. These parameters could vary according to the antibiotic compound, the bacterial specie implicated, the localization of the infection, the severity of the disease. The serum PK/PD parameters are predictive of efficacy in several infections (respiratory, skin, bone) and become a major criterion for selecting antibiotics in clinical practice. Moreover, these PK/PD parameters are the cornerstone of pre-clinical development of antibiotics, the determination of dosage and for the establishment of breakpoints for classifying strains in the sensitive or resistant area, (C) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.