1 - Administration / Absorption / Distribution Flashcards
These cannot act at target sites, nor can they be metabolized. This affects 3 aspects of drug action:
Drug molecules that are bound to inactive depots, including plasma proteins.
- onset
- duration
- magnitude
Movement of the drug from the site of administration to the blood circulation. Some is taken in by stomach, but most drugs not fully taken in until they reach small intestine.
Absorption
A drug rarely acts where it contacts the body. Process by which drug must pass through variety of cell membranes to enter blood plasma, which transports it to virtually all of the cells in body.
Absorption and Distribution
Absorption is dependent on (4)
MISI
- MOA (movement to circulation influenced by factors like type of/food in stomach, physical activity, etc.
- ionizatoin of the drug
- solubility
- individual differences in age, sex, and body size
Acid / Base and Drug Absorption
Substances most fat-soluble (least ionized) absorb in solutions with pH most like their own
* Feces is a bit basic

Once in blood plasma, some drug molecules move to tissues for ___ to active target sites/receptors. While in the blood, a drug may also attach to plasma proteins (called ___ ___ ) or may be stored temporarily in bone or fat, where it remain inactive.
Binding | Depot Binding
The amount of drug in the blood that is free to bind at specific target sites to elicit drug action.
Bioavailability
This limits drug concentration in the CNS. It is formed by specialized capilaries that have few pores to allow drugs to leave the circulation.
Blood Brain Barrier
Drug Absorption Factors (5)
- Lipid bilayers (phospholipid membranes) keep charged (ionized) molecules out of the cell and allow fat-soluble (non-ionized) substances into cells (passive diffusion)
- Concentration gradient determines the rate of diffusion into cells
- Simple diffusion is how cells “breathe” (oxygen in, carbon dioxide out)
- Rate of passage through cell walls — More/faster movement to where there is less of the substance
- Drug redistribution: As plasma levels fall, drug concentration in highly vascularized organs will be greater than in the blood, so the drug will move from those organs back into the plasma to maintain equilibrium.
Drug Action
Molecular changes produced by a drug when it binds to a target site or receptor.
*The site of drug action may be different from the site of the drug’s effects.
Methods of Administration (8)
SORT IIII
- Subcutaneous (popping)
- Oral (subject to First Pass Metabolism)
- Rectal (Low in rectum / hemorrhoidal vein skips first pass metabolism)
- Transdermal
- Intramuscular
- Intravenous
- Inhalation
- Intranasal (bypasses blood-brain barrier; e.g., powder cocaine)
Drug Effects
The alterations of physiological or psychological functions caused by those molecular changes.
*The site of drug action may be different from the site of the drug’s effects.
Oral and rectal routes of administration are ________ because they involve the gastrointestical tract; all other methods are called ________
Enteral | Parenteral
Used when spinal anesthetics are administered directly into the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the spinal cord of a mother during childbirth, bypassing the blood–brain barrier.
Epidural Injection
Interacting pharmacokinetic factors that determine free drug quantity in blood (5)
- Method of administration,
- Rate of absorption and distrubution,
- Binding at inactive sties,
- Biotransformation/Metabolism
- Excretion
Implanted under skin of scalp and programmed to deliver constant dose of antibiotic into cerebral ventricle. Permits treatment of brain infection and useful because antibiotics are normally prevented from passing blood–brain barrier.
Infusion Pump
Injected directly into the cerebrospinal fluid–filled ventricles. Experimenters can study electrophysiological, biochemical, or behavioural effects of drugs on particular nerve cell groups.
Intracerebro-Ventricular Injection
A microsyringe or a cannula enables precise drug injection into discrete areas of brain tissue.
Intracranial Injection
Alternative to IV injection; provides slower more even absorption over time. Can be slowed by combining drug with 2nd drug that constricts blood vessels. Slower sustained action by injecting drug in suspension of vegetable oil.
Intramuscular Injection (IM)
Drug injected through abdominal wall into peritoneal cavity around organs. Rapid effects but not as rapid as IV injection. Variability in absorption, depending on whereexactly drug is placed.
Intraperitoneal Injection (IP)
Most rapid, accurate method of drug administration. A precise quantity of agent is placed directly into blood and passage through cell membranes such as stomach wall is eliminated. Quick onset of drug effect is a potential hazard since drug cannot be removed from body (as with stomach pumping).
Intravenous (IV)
Only these drugs can readily enter the brain.
Lipid Soluble
Drugs with high lipid solubility (not ionized) move through cell membranes by passive diffusion, leaving the water in the blood or stomach juices and entering lipid layers of membranes.
Lipid-Soluble Drugs
Method of Aministration influences absorption because (3)
- determines the area of the absorbing surface,
- number of cell layers through which the drug must pass,
- extent to whcih first-pass metabolism affects drug
