Drug Distribution Flashcards
What needs to happen to a drug once it has been absorbed?
Needs to be distributed to the tissue
What is drug distribution?
Refers to the reversible transfer of a drug between the blood and the extra-vascular fluids and tissues of the body
What is tissue distribution impacted by?
Plasma protein binding
Tissue perfusion
Membrane characteristics (blood brain barrier, blood-testis/ovary barrier)
Transport mechanisms
Diseases and other drugs
Eliminations
What do many drugs bind to?
Proteins such as albumin or alpha1-glycoprotein
When is the drug biologically active?
When it is unbound
What can drugs binding to proteins be described as?
Reversible
What is the amount of drug bound changed by?
Renal failure
Hypaalbuminaemia
Pregnancy
Other drugs
Saturability of binding
What does a small change in the amount of unbound drug lead to?
A massive change in the drug action, for example:
A drug that is 96% bound changes to 92%, so the amount of active drug has doubled
What is the therapeutic range?
Concentration of drug to achieve the desired therapeutic effect
What is the ability to achieve the therapeutic range affected by?
Volume of distribution
Clearance
Half life
What is apparent volume of distribution (Vd)?
Volume of plasma that would be necassary to account for the total amount of drug in a patient’s body, if that drug was present throughout the body at the same concentration as found in the plasma (expressed as L/kg)
What is the apparent volume of distribution (Vd) expressed as?
L/kg
What is a formula that describes the apparent volume of distribution?
Vd = (total amount of drug in the body) / (drug blood plasma concentration)
What does it mean if a drug has a high volume of distribution?
It will go to the tissue
What does it mean if a drug has a low volume of distribution?
It will stay in the plasma
If the drug spread through every membrane what would the volume of distribution be (Vd)?
42L (because there are 42L of fluid in the average body)
What would the volume of distribution be if the blood cannot penetrate cells?
12L
What would the volume of distribution be if the drug is highly protein bound?
3L
What is clearance (Cl)?
Theoretical volume from which a drug is completely removed over a period of time (measure in units of time ml/min)
What is clearance expressed as?
ml/min
What are the two kinds of clearance?
Hepatic clearance
Renal clearance
What is clearance a measure of?
Elimination