Pharmacokinetics (from Ancient Greek pharmakon “drug” and kinetikos “moving, putting in motion”), sometimes abbreviated as PK, is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to determine the fate of substances administered to a living organism.
The substances of interest include any chemical xenobiotic such as: pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, food additives, cosmetics, etc. It attempts to analyze chemical metabolism and to discover the fate of a chemical from the moment that it is administered up to the point at which it is completely eliminated from the body. Pharmacokinetics is the study of how an organism affects a drug, whereas pharmacodynamics (PD) is the study of how the drug affects the organism. Both together influence dosing, benefit, and adverse effects, as seen in PK/PD models.
Many factors can influence the therapeutic efficacy of a drug, including pharmacokinetics, which refers to the passage of drugs into the body, through it, and out of the body.
Think of pharmacokinetics as a drug’s journey through the body, during which it passes through four different phases: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). The four steps are:
- Absorption: Describes how the drug moves from the site of administration to the site of action.
- Distribution: Describes the journey of the drug through the bloodstream to various tissues of the body.
- Metabolism: Describes the process that breaks down the drug.
- Excretion: Describes the removal of the drug from the body.
Requirements
- General Principles of Pharmacology
Target audiences
- Pharmacy Student
- Medical Student
- Dentistry Students
- PharmD Students