Dried Blood Spot Sampling for Tacrolimus and Mycophenolic Acid in Children : Analytical and Clinical Validation

BACKGROUND: Tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid (MPA) are the backbone of immunosuppressive therapy after pediatric kidney transplantation. Dosing of these drugs is individualized by therapeutic drug monitoring. Dried blood spot (DBS) sampling may prove beneficial over conventional venous sampling. We aimed to develop and clinically validate a DBS method for tacrolimus and MPA in children. METHODS: A joint DBS liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry assay for tacrolimus and MPA was developed. DBS-specific items included the hematocrit effect and influence of spot volume. Subsequently, a clinical validation study among children aged 2-18 years was performed to assess the agreement between observed and DBS-predicted venous concentrations. Agreement of the methods was assessed with Passing-Bablok regression, Bland-Altman plots, and quantification of the DBS predictive performance in terms of bias (median percentage prediction error) and precision (median absolute percentage prediction error), both should be