ArticleAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy2026
Population pharmacokinetics and dose optimization of piperacillin-tazobactam in premature and term neonates with severe infections.
Article in Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Antibiotic Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of Neonatal Sepsis.Clinics in perinatology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Piperacillin-tazobactam is widely used off-label in neonates for the empirical treatment of severe infections, resulting in diverse dosing regimens across clinical settings. This variability, combined with high interindividual differences in renal maturation that impact drug disposition, complicates standardized dosing and emphasizes the need for individualized, evidence-based strategies. This study aimed to develop and evaluate a population pharmacokinetic model of piperacillin in neonates to support optimized initial dosing recommendations. Neonatal patients (postnatal age ≤28 days) admitted to an intensive care unit who received piperacillin-tazobactam (8:1 ratio) at Neofax-recommended doses were included. Plasma concentrations were measured using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method. Population pharmacokinetic analysis for piperacillin was performed using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling. A total of 65 blood samples were collected from 25 neonates, both preterm (56%) and full-term. Piperacillin pharmacokinetics was best described by a one-compartment model incorporating body weight-based allometric scaling, postmenstrual age, and serum creatinine as covariates influencing clearance. For a typical neonate in the study (1.76 kg), the estimated clearance was 0.748 L/h (coefficient of variation, 38.3%), and the volume of distribution was 0.866 L (37.7%). Simulations indicated adequate probability of target attainment with current recommendations, but a high proportion of preterm neonates (>75%) were at risk of overexposure (trough piperacillin plasma concentration >50 mg/L). Additional simulations supported individualized initial regimens based on renal maturation and suggested that extended infusions (1-4 h) may improve target attainment for stricter targets and less-susceptible pathogens. This study provides a validated pharmacokinetic model for piperacillin in neonates with severe infections, offering a framework to optimize empiric dosing based on renal function and developmental stage.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.