Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Lacosamide: Is 10 to 20 mg/L a Suitable Reference Range for Patients With Epilepsy?

Objectives: The reference range for lacosamide (LCM) has been updated from 1 to 10 mg/L to 10 to 20 mg/L. Historically, LCM range was defined from trough-level measurements, but the newer ranges were obtained from peak-level measurements. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between LCM plasma levels higher than 10 mg/L and the incidence of adverse effects.

Measurement of meropenem concentration in different human biological fluids by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Meropenem is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, often used for the empirical treatment of infections in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury. Meropenem has clinically insignificant protein binding and, as a carbapenem antibiotic, shows time-dependent bacterial killing, meaning that the unbound or free antibiotic concentration in blood should be maintained above the minimal inhibitory concentration of the pathogen for at least 40 % of the dosing interval. We developed and validated simple chromatographic methods by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to measure plasma, filtrate-dialysate, and urine concentrations of meropenem.