Contatti:
Dr. Tommaso Lomonaco
PhD student
Dipartimento di Chimica e Ch. Industriale via Risorgimento, 35 - 56126 - Pisa
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Supervisor: Prof. Roger Fuoco, Dott. Fabio Di Francesco

Title: Measurement of drug concentration in alternative biological fluids for therapeutic monitoring.

Abstract: Aim of the project is the development of methods for the analysis of non traditional biological fluids such as saliva to be used for a non invasive therapeutic drug monitoring. Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) consists in the measurement of drug concentrations in biological fluids (typically plasma, serum or blood) to obtain useful information to personalize dosage, keep concentrations within a target range, increase efficacy or decrease toxicity. TDM is particularly useful for drugs showing large inter-individual dose/effect variations, having a narrow target range or a concentration-dependent pharmacokinetics. In these cases, a frequent monitoring is necessary to achieve the best therapeutic effect and reduce risks of adverse effects. In the last decade, alternative biological fluids like breath, saliva, hair and sweat have gained importance as sources of clinical information, both for diagnosis and therapy monitoring. Toxicology and assay of drugs of abuse have become other important application fields. In comparison with blood and its derivates, these fluids are easily and painlessly collected. Furthermore, chemical analysis are generally less complex and potentially provide physiological information in real time. In the case of drugs, saliva and sweat are suitable for therapeutic monitoring because the concentration in these alternative fluids only mirrors the free plasma concentration, i.e. the biologically active fraction. The main disadvantage of such approach is that drugs are only present at very low concentrations (100-1000 times lower than blood) and this implies that accurate methods with adequate sensitivity and specificity are needed for their measurement. Gas or liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC/MS or LC/MS), ultraviolet (LC/UV) and fluorescence (LC/FP) detection are the reference techniques in this field.

Publications:  http://arp.unipi.it/listedoc.php?ide=486092&ord=C