by Galindo Bedor DC, Tavares Cavalcanti Bedor NC, Viturino da Silva JW, Damasceno Sousa G, Pereira de Santana D, Garcia-Bournissen F, Altcheh J, Blum B, Alves F, Ribeiro I. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2018, doi 10.1128/AAC.00845-18
Summary: The pharmacokinetics (PK) of benznidazole (BNZ), the drug of choice for the treatment of adults, young infants, and new-borns with Chagas Disease (CD), has been poorly evaluated in all age groups. The authors developed and validated a bioanalytical method to quantify BNZ levels in small volume whole blood samples collected as dried blood spots (DBS). The PK results obtained from DBS and plasma in healthy male volunteers were comparable and equivalent to previously published information on BNZ. BNZ in DBS was stable at room temperature for over one year. This first micro-sampling method for measuring BNZ levels in DBS has the potential to both facilitate broad implementation of PK in clinical trials involving adult and paediatric patients in remote endemic areas and help to address existing knowledge gaps in the treatment in CD.
