ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT07113574Updated Aug 11, 2025

Pharmacokinetics of Meropenem and Aztreonam After Intraperitoneal Administration Via Cycler-therapy in APD Patients Without Peritonitis

A Phase 2/3 interventional study of Meropenem 1000 mg and Aztreonam 2000 mg in Peritoneal Dialysis Associated Peritonitis, Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) and Peritoneal Dialysis, sponsored by Karl Landsteiner Insitute for Nephrology and Haemato-Oncology. Completed at 1 site in Austria. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-08-11.

Sponsored by Karl Landsteiner Insitute for Nephrology and Haemato-Oncology · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 3 years 10 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Aug 2021, registered Jul 2025).
Phase
Phase 2/3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
12
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis (PDAP) remains one of the most serious complications in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD), contributing significantly to hospitalization, technique failure, and mortality. Intraperitoneal (IP) antibiotic administration is the standard of care in PDAP, as it provides high local drug concentrations at the site of infection. However, dosing recommendations are largely based on pharmacokinetic (PK) studies in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), now widely used, differs significantly from CAPD in terms of dialysate volumes, frequency of exchanges, and peritoneal clearance. As a result, extrapolation of CAPD-based dosing regimens may lead to antibiotic underdosing in APD patients.

This prospective, open-label, single-center descriptive PK study investigates the plasma and dialysate concentration-time profiles of meropenem and aztreonam after IP administration into the short-dwell cycler exchanges during nighttime APD. The rationale is that administration into the early short dwells may ensure adequate antibiotic levels both during active cycling (when frequent exchanges may clear the drug rapidly) and during the subsequent long daytime dwell through back-diffusion from systemic circulation.

Twelve stable APD patients without peritonitis will be enrolled (6 per drug group). Inclusion requires patients to be on a stable APD regimen for at least one month using glucose-based dialysate for short nighttime dwells and Icodextrin for the daytime dwell. Patients with current infections, recent peritonitis, or significant comorbid conditions are excluded.

On the study day, each participant will receive either:

Meropenem: 0.75 g added to a 5L glucose-based peritoneal dialysis fluid (PDF) bag, or

Aztreonam: 2 g prepared similarly.

The antibiotic-containing 5L PDF bag is used as the first bag in the APD cycler session, followed by a second 5L antibiotic-free PDF bag, yielding a total of five 2L nighttime exchanges. After cycler therapy, a 1.5L Icodextrin fill is instilled for the long daytime dwell.

Sampling includes:

Venous blood: at 0 (pre-dose), 1, 2, 4.5, 6.5, 9, 10, 12, 16, and 24 hours.

Dialysate: inflow/outflow from each cycle and at defined intervals during the Icodextrin dwell (up to 24 hours).

Urine: 5 mL from a 24-hour collection in patients with residual renal function.

Drug concentrations in plasma, dialysate, and urine will be quantified using validated high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques. Primary PK endpoints include area under the curve (AUC), maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), time to reach Cmax (Tmax), and half-life (t½) in each compartment. Secondary endpoints include ratios of AUC and Cmax across compartments, time above the minimal inhibitory concentration (T>MIC), and AUC0-24/MIC.

This study does not include formal hypothesis testing but aims to generate descriptive PK data to inform optimized dosing of meropenem and aztreonam for APD patients. Currently, there is a lack of pharmacokinetic data guiding IP antibiotic dosing specifically in APD. The study's findings may support more accurate and effective antibiotic administration protocols for PDAP and potentially for the treatment of other systemic infections (e.g., pneumonia) in this population.

The anticipated benefit is improved antimicrobial efficacy through better PK/PD target attainment while avoiding the need for intravenous therapy. The risk to participants is minimal, consisting primarily of standard procedures (blood draws, single-dose IP drug administration). Ethical approval has been obtained, and all participants will provide written informed consent. The study complies with Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and relevant regulatory and ethical standards, including the Declaration of Helsinki.

02

Conditions studied

  • Peritoneal Dialysis Associated Peritonitis
  • Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)
  • Peritoneal Dialysis
  • Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory
  • Meropenem
  • Aztreonam
  • Antibacterial Agents
  • Intraperitoneal Antibiotics
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Drug Therapy

Keywords

  • Pharmacokinetics
  • meropenem
  • aztreonam
  • intraperitoneal administration
  • automated cycler-therapy
  • APD patients
  • peritonitis
03

In context

Kidney Failure, Chronic

2,108 studies on the registry are indexed under Kidney Failure, Chronic; 273 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 12 is below the median of 57 across 1,569 interventional studies indexed under Kidney Failure, Chronic.

Browse Kidney Failure, Chronic studies →

Lead sponsor

Karl Landsteiner Insitute for Nephrology and Haemato-Oncology is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Male or female patients, aged over 18 years
  • Patients on a stable APD regime for at least 1 month
  • Patients on an APD regime using a glucose-based PDF (1,36% and/or 2,27%) for short nighttime dwells and Icodextrin for the long daytime dwell
  • Willingness and ability to comply with the protocol
  • Signed

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any systemic infection
  • Peritonitis or catheter-related infection which required antibiotic treatment within 2 months prior to the start of the study
  • Allergy or against study drug
  • Severe hepatic impairment ( Class C)
  • Pregnancy, or women of not willing to apply adequate during study period
  • Any disease considered relevant for proper performance of the study or risks to the patient, at the discretion of the investigator
  • below 9 g/dl
  • below 19 or above 35
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(7)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Child-Pugh class

A score of how well the liver works in people with liver disease such as cirrhosis: class A is mild, B moderate and C severe.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2 / Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
12 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    intraperitoneal meropenem via cycler-therapy in APD

    Intraperitoneal administration of meropenem via cycler-therapy in automated peritoneal dialysis patients without peritonitis

    Drug: Meropenem 1000 mg · Other: automated peritoneal dialysis with following long time dwell · Diagnostic Test: Sampling

  • Experimental
    intraperitoneal aztreonam via cycler-therapy in APD

    Intraperitoneal administration of aztreonam via cycler-therapy in automated peritoneal dialysis patients without peritonitis

    Drug: Aztreonam 2000 mg · Other: automated peritoneal dialysis with following long time dwell · Diagnostic Test: Sampling

Interventions

  • Administration of meropenem after intraperitoneal administration via cycler-therapy in APD patients without peritonitis

  • Administration of aztreonam after intraperitoneal administration via cycler-therapy in APD patients without peritonitis

  • Otherautomated peritoneal dialysis with following long time dwell

    The cycler therapy, followed by a prolonged dwell, will be performed as outlined in the study protocol.

  • Diagnostic testSampling

    The sampling of blood, dialysate, and urine will be performed as outlined in the study protocol.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Area Under the Curve (AUC)

    Time frame: 24 hours

  2. Maximum concentration (Cmax)

    Time frame: 24 hours

  3. Time to Cmax (Tmax)

    Time frame: 24 hours

  4. Half-life (t½)

    Time frame: 24 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. Time above minimum inhibitory concentration (T>MIC)

    Time frame: 24 hours

  2. AUC0-24/MIC

    Time frame: 24 hours

  3. Compartmental ratios (AUC, Cmax)

    Time frame: 24 hours

07

Study locations

1 site
  • UK St. Pölten
    Sankt Pölten, A-3100, Austria
08

References and documents

Publications

  • de Vin F, Rutherford P, Faict D. Intraperitoneal administration of drugs in peritoneal dialysis patients: a review of compatibility and guidance for clinical use. Perit Dial Int. 2009 Jan-Feb;29(1):5-15. PubMed 19164246 ↗
  • Kussmann M, Schuster L, Wrenger S, Pichler P, Reznicek G, Burgmann H, Poeppl W, Zeitlinger M, Wiesholzer M. Influence of Different Peritoneal Dialysis Fluids on the In Vitro Activity of Cefepime, Ciprofloxacin, Ertapenem, Meropenem and Tobramycin Against Escherichia Coli. Perit Dial Int. 2016 11-12;36(6):662-668. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2015.00161. Epub 2016 Sep 28. PubMed 27680756 ↗
  • Wiesholzer M, Pichler P, Reznicek G, Wimmer M, Kussmann M, Balcke P, Burgmann H, Zeitlinger M, Poeppl W. An Open, Randomized, Single-Center, Crossover Pharmacokinetic Study of Meropenem after Intraperitoneal and Intravenous Administration in Patients Receiving Automated Peritoneal Dialysis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2016 Apr 22;60(5):2790-7. doi: 10.1128/AAC.02664-15. Print 2016 May. PubMed 26902765 ↗
  • Warady BA, Bakkaloglu S, Newland J, Cantwell M, Verrina E, Neu A, Chadha V, Yap HK, Schaefer F. Consensus guidelines for the prevention and treatment of catheter-related infections and peritonitis in pediatric patients receiving peritoneal dialysis: 2012 update. Perit Dial Int. 2012 Jun;32 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S32-86. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2011.00091. No abstract available. PubMed 22851742 ↗
  • Peerapornratana S, Chariyavilaskul P, Kanjanabuch T, Praditpornsilpa K, Eiam-Ong S, Katavetin P. Short-Dwell Cycling Intraperitoneal Cefazolin Plus Ceftazidime in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients. Perit Dial Int. 2017 Mar-Apr;37(2):218-224. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2015.00300. Epub 2016 Oct 13. PubMed 27738089 ↗
  • Manley HJ, Bailie GR. Treatment of peritonitis in APD: pharmacokinetic principles. Semin Dial. 2002 Nov-Dec;15(6):418-21. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-139x.2002.00103.x. PubMed 12437537 ↗
  • Salzer W. Antimicrobial-resistant gram-positive bacteria in PD peritonitis and the newer antibiotics used to treat them. Perit Dial Int. 2005 Jul-Aug;25(4):313-9. PubMed 16022084 ↗
  • Van Ende C, Tintillier M, Cuvelier C, Migali G, Pochet JM. Intraperitoneal meropenem administration: a possible alternative to the intravenous route. Perit Dial Int. 2010 Mar-Apr;30(2):250-1. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2009.00052. No abstract available. PubMed 20200373 ↗
  • Li PK, Szeto CC, Piraino B, de Arteaga J, Fan S, Figueiredo AE, Fish DN, Goffin E, Kim YL, Salzer W, Struijk DG, Teitelbaum I, Johnson DW. ISPD Peritonitis Recommendations: 2016 Update on Prevention and Treatment. Perit Dial Int. 2016 Sep 10;36(5):481-508. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2016.00078. Epub 2016 Jun 9. No abstract available. PubMed 27282851 ↗
  • Hsieh YP, Chang CC, Wang SC, Wen YK, Chiu PF, Yang Y. Predictors for and impact of high peritonitis rate in Taiwanese continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients. Int Urol Nephrol. 2015 Jan;47(1):183-9. doi: 10.1007/s11255-014-0763-5. Epub 2014 Jul 18. PubMed 25034275 ↗
  • Szeto CC, Wong TY, Chow KM, Leung CB, Li PK. Are peritoneal dialysis patients with and without residual renal function equivalent for survival study? Insight from a retrospective review of the cause of death. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2003 May;18(5):977-82. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfg027. PubMed 12686674 ↗
  • Perez Fontan M, Rodriguez-Carmona A, Garcia-Naveiro R, Rosales M, Villaverde P, Valdes F. Peritonitis-related mortality in patients undergoing chronic peritoneal dialysis. Perit Dial Int. 2005 May-Jun;25(3):274-84. PubMed 15981776 ↗
  • Ghali JR, Bannister KM, Brown FG, Rosman JB, Wiggins KJ, Johnson DW, McDonald SP. Microbiology and outcomes of peritonitis in Australian peritoneal dialysis patients. Perit Dial Int. 2011 Nov-Dec;31(6):651-62. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2010.00131. Epub 2011 Jun 30. PubMed 21719685 ↗
  • Davenport A. Peritonitis remains the major clinical complication of peritoneal dialysis: the London, UK, peritonitis audit 2002-2003. Perit Dial Int. 2009 May-Jun;29(3):297-302. PubMed 19458302 ↗
  • Brown MC, Simpson K, Kerssens JJ, Mactier RA; Scottish Renal Registry. Peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis rates and outcomes in a national cohort are not improving in the post-millennium (2000-2007). Perit Dial Int. 2011 Nov-Dec;31(6):639-50. doi: 10.3747/pdi.2010.00185. Epub 2011 Jul 31. PubMed 21804138 ↗
  • Boudville N, Kemp A, Clayton P, Lim W, Badve SV, Hawley CM, McDonald SP, Wiggins KJ, Bannister KM, Brown FG, Johnson DW. Recent peritonitis associates with mortality among patients treated with peritoneal dialysis. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Aug;23(8):1398-405. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2011121135. Epub 2012 May 24. PubMed 22626818 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes

Supporting information: Study protocol

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Aug 2021 to primary completion in Jul 2022, 10 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jul 10, 2025
First posted
Aug 11, 2025
StartActual
Aug 31, 2021
Primary completionActual
Jul 24, 2022
CompletionActual
Jul 24, 2022
Last update
Aug 11, 2025
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 11, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07113574
Lead sponsor
Karl Landsteiner Insitute for Nephrology and Haemato-Oncology
Collaborators
Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences, Medical University of Cologne, University Hospital St. Polten, University of Vienna
Responsible party
Dominik Tüchler (MD, Karl Landsteiner Insitute for Nephrology and Haemato-Oncology) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 11, 2025
Start date
Aug 31, 2021
Primary completion
Jul 24, 2022
Completion
Jul 24, 2022
Last update
Aug 11, 2025

Study contacts

Martin F Wiesholzer, MD
principal investigator · UK St. Pölten

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Meropenem · Aztreonam

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