Pharmacokinetics of piperaquine transfer into the breast milk of Melanesian mothers

Abstract

Transfer of piperaquine (PQ) into breast milk was examined in 27 Papua New Guinean women given a 3-day course of dihydro-artemisinin-PQ or sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine-PQ during the second/third trimester. Breast milk was sampled on days 1, 2, 3 to 5, 7 to 11, and 14 to 17 postdelivery, a median of 70 days postdose (range, 6 to 145 days). A blood sample was taken at delivery, and additional serial samples were available from 9 women who delivered within 42 days of dosing. Milk and plasma PQ were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography. A population-based approach was used to model the loge(plasma) and milk concentration-time data. A sigmoid Emax model best described PQ breast milk tra..