Importance of beta-lactamase inhibitor pharmacokinetics in the pharmacodynamics of inhibitor-drug combinations: studies with piperacillin-tazobactam and piperacillin-sulbactam

An in vitro pharmacokinetic model was used to study the pharmacodynamics of piperacillin-tazobactam and piperacillin-sulbactam against gram-negative bacilli producing plasmid-encoded beta-lactamases. Logarithmic-phase cultures were exposed to peak antibiotic concentrations observed in human serum after the administration of intravenous doses of 3 g of piperacillin and 0.375 g of tazobactam or 0.5 g of sulbactam. Piperacillin and inhibitor were either dosed simultaneously or piperacillin was dosed sequentially 0.5 h after dosing with the inhibitor. In studies with all four test strains, the pharmacodynamics observed after simultaneous dosing were similar to those observed with the sequential regimen. Since the ratio between piperacillin and tazobactam was in constant fluctuation after sequential dosing, these data suggest that the pharmacodynamics of the piperacillin-inhibitor combinations were not dependent upon maintenance of a critical ratio between the components. Furthermore, when regrowth was observed, the time at which bacterial counts began to increase was similar between the simultaneous and sequential dosing regimens. Since the pharmacokinetics of the inhibitors were the same for all regimens, these data suggest that the length of time that the antibacterial activity was maintained over the dosing interval with these combinations was dictated by the pharmacokinetics of the beta-lactamase inhibitor in the combination. The antibacterial activity of the combination appeared to be lost when the amount of inhibitor available fell below some critical concentration. This critical concentration varied depending upon the type and amount of enzyme produced, as well as the specific inhibitor used. These results indicate that the antibacterial activity of drug-inhibitor combinations, when dosed at their currently recommended ratios, is more dependent on the pharmacokinetics of the inhibitor than on those of the beta-lactam drug.