Pharmicokinetics Flashcards
What are the disadvantages of IV injection?
Irreversible Skill require to administer Infusion require apparatus Inconvenient for the patient Risk of infection/embolism High initial conc
What are the advantages of IV injection?
Speed
Control
Accuracy (helpful for drugs with a narrow therapeutic window)
What determines the rate of absorption of intramuscular and subcutaneous injections?
Local concentration and blood flow
Also if the drug precipitates then the local conc remains constant as long as solid remains
What are the advantages of subcutaneous injection?
Slow prolonged, constant absorption (in effect an infusion)
Long term administration
Certainty that drug is taken
What are the disadvantages of subcutaneous injection?
Rate of entry into general circulation can be inconsistent and unpredictable
Can be painful
If precipitates can be slowly absorbed
What is the rate of transdermal absorption determined by?
The lipid/water partition coefficient
What are the advantages of transdermal administration?
Avoids first pass metabolism in the liver
Can give steady state absorption for long periods of time
What is the first pass effect?
The term used to describe the fact that many drugs absorbed by the stomach will pass through the liver and eliminated
What are the advantages and disadvantages of administration sublingually/buccally?
Adv
Rapid onset
Avoids first pass metabolism
Dis
Taste
Accumulation of saliva
Small surface area
What are the advantages and disadvantages of oral administration of a drug?
Adv
Self administration
Cheap
Effects can be spread over a long period of time
Dis Slow Variable Digestion Vomitting/diarrhoea First pass effect
What affects the rate of absorption of drugs across gut epithelium?
Low degree of ionisation
High lipid/water partition coefficient (of non ionised form)
Small atomic or molecular radius of water soluble substances
What determines the degree of ionisation of a drug?
The pH of the environment and the pKa value of a drug
What kind of drugs are absorbed well in the stomach?
Acids, whereas weak bases can trapped
What kind of drugs are absorbed well in the small intestine?
Bases are absorbed well
What can cause low bioavailability of a drug?
High degree of ionisation
Digestion
Metabolism
First-pass effect
What can cause variability in bioavailability?
Vomiting and diarrhoea
Food in gut can slow transit time to the intestine and can impair absorption
High fat meals can increase the rate of absorption with poor water solubility
What are the main areas a drug can distribute within?
Blood ECF ICF Fat Other (CSF, peritoneum, sivonial fluid and fetus)
What is the equation that gives total plasma concentration?
C = C(free) + C (bound)
What protein do most neutral and weakly acidic drugs bind to in the blood? Why?
Albumin
Each drug has multiple binding site and makes up 50% of total plasma conc
Which protein do most weak bases bind to?
α2-acid-glycoprotein
Each molecule has a single high affinity site
What are the important consequences of drug binding to plasma protein?
Increases the amount of drug that can be transported in the blood
Only free drug can cross capillary walls so binding to plasma protein affects the rate at which drug enters interstitial fluid
Binding affects rate at which drug is eliminated
Percentage bound can change in presence of other drugs (could result in toxic levels)
What are the volumes of different bodily compartments?
Total - 42L
/ \
Extracellular - 14L Intracellular - 28L
/ \
Plasma - 3L Interstitial - 11L
What is the formula for the volume of distribution?
Vd = Total amount of drug in the body / plasma conc
How does binding affect the apparent volume of distribution?
High degree of protein bound = Vd is lower than actual volume
How does sequestration of drug in fat deposits affect the apparent volume of distribution?
Binding/sequestration can reduce plasma conc = High Vd
What are the was in which drugs can pass through capillary walls?
Tight junctions form pores = drugs of less the 30 angstrums can cross rapidly
Large drugs can move by transcytosis
How can drugs bypass the BBB if they aren’t lipid soluble? When is this used?
Intrathecal administration, directly into the CSF allows administration of drugs to the meningeal surfaces of the brain?
Used to treat infectious meningitis and CNS leukemia
What do P-glycoproteins do? What is their role?
Actively transport drugs out of cells
Play an important role in excreting toxic substances from cells in order to prevent build up
How are drugs removed from their site of action?
Metabolism
Excretion
Storage (in fat)
What enzymes are involved in the inactivation of drugs? Which is the most common?
CYP enzymes in hepatocytes and in the wall of the intestines
Cytochrome P450
What are the common features of CYP enzymes?
Low substrate specificity
High solubility in lipids
What kind of reactions does cytochrome P450 catalyse?
Phase 1 reactions:
- Oxidation
- Hydrolysis
- Hydroxylation
What are the Phase II reactions involved in drug metabolism? What is the role of these reactions?
The attachment of a chemical group
These chemical groups make the molecule more polar and this more excretable via the kidney
What class of enzyme catalyse Phase II reactions in drug metabolism?
Transferases
What is the process of aspirin metabolism in the liver?
Aspirin -> Salicyclic acid -> Excreted
Pro-drug
What is the metabolic pathway of diazepam?
Diazepam (active)
N-demethylation
Desmethyldiazepam (active)
Aliphatic hydroxylation
Oxazepam (active)
Glucuronide conjugation
Oxazepam glucuronide (inactive)