Pharmacokinetics and disposition of miltefosine in healthy mice and hamsters experimentally infected with Leishmania infantum

Abstract

Miltefosine is the only currently available oral drug for treatment of leishmaniasis. However, information on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of miltefosine is relatively scarce in animals. PK parameters and disposition of the molecule was determined in healthy NMRI mice and Syrian hamsters infected and treated with different miltefosine doses and regimens. Long half-life of the molecule was confirmed and differential pattern of accumulation of the drug was observed in analyzed organs in mice and hamster. Long treatment schedules produced miltefosine levels over IC₅₀ value against L. infantum intracellular amastigotes for at least 24 days in spleen and liver of infected hamsters. The observed differential pattern of organ accumulation of the drug in mice and hamster supports the relevance of both species for translational research on chemotherapy of leishmaniasis.

Keywords: Disposition; Hamster; Leishmaniasis; Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; Miltefosine; Pharmacokinetics.