Quantification of meropenem in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in children with bacterial meningitis with augmented renal clearance by UPLC–MS/MS

Meropenem is an ultrabroad-spectrum antimicrobial agent that is often recommended for the treatment of bacterial meningitis (BM) in children. However, a subtherapeutic phenomenon occurred in BM children complicated with augmented renal clearance (ARC) at the recommended dose of meropenem. To support its pharmacokinetics, a sensitive, fast and robust ultra-liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method was developed to measure meropenem concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The method involved protein precipitation, and samples were diluted with a large proportion of water to eliminate solvent effects. The separation of samples was performed on a Waters Acquity™ BEH C18 column (2.1 × 50 mm i.d., 1.7 μm) with a gradient profile. The mobile phases were formic acid–water (1:1000, v/v) and acetonitrile. The linear range was good, with a concentration range of 0.100–100 μg/mL for serum and 0.0400–20.0 μg/mL for CSF. The intra-day and inter-day precisions were less than 8.0%, and the intra-day and inter-day accuracies varied −6.6% from 6.5% for the both serum and CSF. The selectivity, carry-over, dilution integrity, matrix effect, recovery and stability were validated according to international guidelines. The developed UPLC–MS/MS method successfully determined the meropenem concentrations in the serum and CSF of children with BM complicated with ARC. The results indicated that under the recommended dosing regimen (40 mg/kg every 8 h), the time to reach the effective treatment target of 50%T > MIC was only approximately 3 h and lower CSF concentrations of meropenem were observed in children with BM with ARC.