Drug absorption is the process by which a drug molecule moves from the site of administration to the systemic circulation. Following intravenous administration, there is no absorption process since the drug is directly introduced into the blood stream. However, for oral, intramuscular, subcutaneous, sublingual, buccal, transdermal, (and many other routes), there will be an absorption … Continued
You may come across a phrase like the following and wonder what it means: “… this drug exhibits nonlinear pharmacokinetics …”. An example of a drug that has nonlinear pharmacokinetics (PK) is erythropoietin or EPO. You may have heard about EPO in the context of sports because it is a performance enhancing drug (PED). EPO … Continued
The maximum observed concentration (Cmax) and the time of Cmax (tmax) are both obtained directly from the concentration-time data. In this post, I will review how to determine both of these parameters, and how to interpret information from the values. These two parameters are simple, but they pack some important information if you know how … Continued
Bioanalytical analysis is a fundamental tool for the pharmacokineticist. The results of a bioanalysis are the source data for all pharmacokinetic work. Thus a clear understanding of the methodologies and challenges associated with the bioanalytical analysis science is of great benefit to a pharmacokineticist. As an example, I was recently working on the development of … Continued
One of the most common tasks when working with data in Phoenix WinNonlin is to change the column titles or units. In many software packages that consists of clicking on the data spreadsheet and re-typing the new information; however, with Phoenix, you have to take a few additional steps. Here’s some quick tips on how … Continued
Phoenix WinNonlin is Certara’s new implementation of the popular pharmacokinetic software that has been the mainstay of non-compartmental analysis for over 15 years. But, this newest version is the biggest change in the software since the original PC Nonlin was converted to the Windows-based “WinNonlin” (i.e. Windows Nonlin). In Phoenix WinNonlin, there are a powerful … Continued
Pharmacokinetic analysis normally focuses on systemic exposure to a drug; however, much can be learned from urinary pharmacokinetic parameters. Urinary PK parameters tell you about how much drug was absorbed (at a minimum), and how much drug is eliminated through the kidney. Often it provides easy access to metabolites that are also eliminated in the urine. … Continued
Mass balance studies are also called “C-14 studies” or “Absorption, Metabolism, and Excretion (AME) studies”. It is important to understand what you are trying to learn from the experiment. The primary objectives of a mass balance study are generally: To determine the mass balance of drug-related material following dose administration To determine the ratio of … Continued
A reader, Michael, asked me to discuss the concept of accumulation. This term is used frequently in both the nonclinical and clinical setting. Some people use the word with fear, while others explain it in complicated terms. Accumulation represents the relationship between the dosing interval and the rate of elimination for the drug. When the … Continued
The term bioavailability is used very frequently in pharmacokinetic discussions. Often it is misused and complicated by those who don’t understand its meaning. Bioavailability simply means the fraction of administered drug that reached the systemic circulation (blood). It can range from 0% (no drug) to 100% (all of the administered drug). Absolute vs Relative The … Continued
