Numerous studies have established population pharmacokinetics (PPK) models of sirolimus in various populations. However, a PPK model of sirolimus in Chinese patients with pediatric kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (PKHE) has yet to be established; therefore, this was the purpose of the present study. The present study was a retrospective analysis that utilized the trough concentration data obtained from traditional therapeutic drug monitoring-based dose adjustments. A total of 17 Chinese patients with PKHE from a real-world study were characterized by non-linear mixed-effects modeling. The impact of demographic features, biological characteristics and concomitant medications was assessed. The developed final model was evaluated via bootstrap and a prediction-corrected visual predictive check. A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination was used for modeling of data for PKHE. The typical values of apparent oral clearance (CL/F) and apparent volume of distribution (V/F) in the final model were 3.19 l/h and 165 liters, respectively. Age, alanine transaminase levels and sex were included as significant covariates for CL/F, while the duration of treatment with sirolimus was a significant covariate for V/F. In conclusion, the present study developed and validated the first sirolimus PPK model for Chinese patients with PKHE.
Keywords: kaposiform hemangioendothelioma; pediatric; population pharmacokinetics; real-world study; sirolimus.