Enteropathogen spectrum and effect on antimycobacterial pharmacokinetics among children with tuberculosis in rural Tanzania: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Enteropathy is prevalent in tuberculosis-endemic areas, and it has been shown to impair intestinal absorptive function; therefore, enteropathogen burden might negatively affect antimycobacterial pharmacokinetics, particularly among malnourished children. We sought to quantify enteropathogen burden among children initiating tuberculosis treatment in rural Tanzania and determine the effect of enteropathogen burden on serum antimycobacterial pharmacokinetics.

METHODS

We performed a prospective cohort study at one site in rural Tanzania as an exploratory substudy of a large multicountry cohort study. We included children younger than 15 years of age with confirmed or probable tuberculosis undergoing treatment with first-line tuberculosis therapy; children were excluded from the study if they were unable to undergo sample collection. Participants were consecutively recruited from the inpatient paediatric wards or the outpatient tuberculosis clinic at Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Tanzania. The main outcome was to quantify symptomatic enteropathogen burden and the effect on serum antimycobacterial pharmacokinetics. We quantified enteropathogen burden (defined as the sum of distinct enteropathogens detected in stool) using a multipathogen PCR capable of simultaneous detection of 37 bacterial, viral, and parasitic species or species groups from stool collected within 72 h of treatment initiation. Comprehensive clinical assessment, including presence of gastrointestinal symptoms, was performed at baseline, and serum was collected approximately 2 weeks after treatment initiation at steady state and throughout the dosing interval with concentrations of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol measured by liquid chromatography with a tandem mass spectrometry assay to quantify peak (C) and total area under the concentration curve (AUC), as determined by non-compartmental analysis. Enteropathogen burden was compared with pharmacokinetic measurements using bivariable and multivariable linear regression.

FINDINGS

58 children were assessed for eligibilty and enrolled between June 25, 2016, and Feb 6, 2018; 44 had complete stool testing and serum pharmacokinetic data, and they were included in the analyses. 20 (45%) were female, and 24 (55%) were male. 37 (84%) had moderate or severe malnutrition. A mean of 2·1 (SD 1·3) enteropathogens were detected per participant. Target peak concentrations of rifampicin were reached in eight (18%) of 44 participants, isoniazid in 24 (54%) of 44 participants, pyrazinamide in 28 (74%) of 38 participants, and ethambutol in six (15%) of 39 participants. Compared with controlled comparisons, each summative additional bacterial enteropathogen detected was associated with a 40% lower rifampicin C (95% CI -62 to -5) and a 36% lower ethambutol C (-52 to -14), while viral pathogens were associated with a 51% lower isoniazid C (-75 to -7). The combination of gastrointestinal symptoms and detection of an additional enteropathogen was associated with a 27% reduction in rifampicin AUC (95% CI -47 to -1).

INTERPRETATION

Tanzanian children undergoing tuberculosis treatment rarely attained pharmacokinetic targets; enteropathogen carriage was common and enteropathogen burden was associated with significant reductions in the concentrations of some antimycobacterial drugs. Further research should explore mechanistic relationships of individual pathogens and antimycobacterial pharmacokinetics in larger cohorts, or determine if screening for and treating enteropathogens at tuberculosis treatment initiation improves pharmacokinetic target attainment.

FUNDING

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

TRANSLATION

For the Swahili translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.