(PM3B) Pharmacokinetics Flashcards
What is the therapeutic window of a drug?
The drug level in blood
Between toxicity & poor therapeutic activity
What is Cmax?
Maximum concentration of a drug in the blood
What is Cmin?
Minimum concentration of a drug in the blood
Define bioavailability.
The fraction of an administered dose that reaches the bloodstream
F - symbol in an equation
How is bioavailability determined?
(1) Blood sample taken from patient
(2) Blood cells are centrifuged out
(3) HPLC used to measure drug conc. in plasma
What is HPLC?
High performance liquid chromatography
What does a graph of drug plasma concentration over time indicate?
Absorption
How is absorption of a drug known?
Cp (plasma concentration) vs t (time)
Area under the curve
How can the absorption of IV and oral routes of a drug be compared?
Cp (plasma concentration) vs t (time)
Calculate and compare area under curve
What is the symbol representing bioavailability?
F
How is bioavailability of a route of administration calculated?
F(route) = AUC(route) / AUC(IV)
What does AUC refer to?
Area under curve
What does F refer to?
Bioavailability
What are the commonly used models for distribution?
(1) One compartment model
(2) Two compartment model
What is the one compartment model?
Model for distribution of a drug
Assumption that a drug is distributed in the body in a single homogenous department
Assumes perfusion to heart/ liver/ lungs from blood
What is the two compartment model?
Model for distribution of a drug
Central & peripheral compartments
Central: Blood/ heart/ lungs/ liver
Peripheral: Fat/ muscle/ skin
What does Vd refer to?
Volume of distribution
What is volume of distribution shortened to?
Vd
What is Vd?
Plasma drug concentrations related to total amount of drug present in the body
‘Apparent’ volume of distribution
How is blood plasma concentration calculated?
Cp = (Mass of drug in body) / Vd
Cp = (SxFxD) / Vd
How is Vd calculated?
Vd = (Mass of drug in body) / Cp
In a calculation, what is the mass of the drug in body for an IV injection?
Mass of the drug in the body = 1
How many litres of blood are there in the body?
Approx. 5L
What can be inferred from a volume of distribution (Vd) of greater than 5L? Why?
Drug has been distributed into tissues/ systems OTHER than the blood
How is IV loading dose calculated?
(Desired Cp) x Apparent volume of distribution
How is rate calculated?
Change in amount over time
What does K refer to?
Rate constant
What does n refer to, with regards to rate of reaction?
Order of the process
What is a zero order reaction?
When n=0
When is the rate of change constant?
When X^n = 1, because n=0
Is the rate constant negative or positive? Can that change?
Positive
Always positive
Is dX/dt negative or positive when X is diminishing?
Must be negative
(1) When is the rate constant accompanied by a minus symbol?
(2) Give an example.
(1) When X is diminishing
(2) When a drug is being eliminated from the body
(1) What can {Xt = X(0) - K(0)t} be written as?
(2) What does it mean?
(1) C(pt) = C(p0) - K(0)t
(2) For a zero order elimination, Cp at time t equals Cp at time 0, minus the zero order elimination rate constant multiplied by the time taken
What is the equation {Xt = X(0) - K(0)t} in the same format as?
y = mx + c
(1) If a Cp vs t graph is a straight line, what can be assumed?
(2) What information can be taken from this?
(1) Elimination is zero order
(2) Rate constant and Cp can be found at time zero
What does X represent?
Total amount of drug present in the body
If X is raised to the power of 1, what does this mean in terms of rate of reaction?
(2) What does this mean for the rate of reaction?
(1) First Order reaction
(2) Rate of reaction is not constant, because X is always changing
What does K(0) represent?
Zero order elimination rate
What does K(1) represent?
First order elimination rate
How is the drug concentration of the plasma at time (t) calculated?
Cp(t) = Cp(0)exp^{-K(1)t}
In an equation, what does ‘exp’ represent?
The exponential
(1) What does Cp(t) = Cp(0)exp^{-K(1)t} look like in logarithmic form?
(2) What is this equation used for?
(1)
lnCp(t) = lnCp(0) - K(1)t
(2) Calculating the drug concentration of the plasma at a time (t)
What assumption is made when a drug is injected IV, regarding a Cp vs t plot?
That 100% of the drug is present at t = 0
i.e. volume in body = volume injected
What format can the Cp vs t equations be rearranged to, to be used to calculate values given on the plot?
y = mx + c
What does it mean if a ln(Cp) vs t plot is a straight line?
Reaction (elimination) is first order
What does it mean if a Cp vs t plot is a straight line?
Reaction (elimination) is zero order
What assumption is made for Cp vs t plots of elimination rates?
Based on ONE compartment model
What order of elimination do most drugs undergo?
First order elimination
How are drugs eliminated from the body?
(1) Metabolism
(2) Excretion
What does KE represent?
Rate of elimination
What is the short-hand for rate of elimination?
KE
Is the rate of a zero order elimination dependent on Cp?
No, it is a constant.
When does zero order elimination most commonly occur?
When elimination pathways for a drug are saturated
Is the rate of a first order elimination dependent on Cp?
Yes. Proportional
What does a ln(Cp) vs t plot look like, using a TWO compartment model?
(1) 1st phase: Distribution and elimination
- ln(Cp) drops rapidly
(2) 2nd phase: Elimination ONLY
- ln(Cp) decreases at a slower rate
What occurs during the first phase of the curve of a ln(Cp) vs t plot?
- Drug is being distributed from central compartment to peripheral
- Drug is being eliminated from the central compartment
What occurs during the second phase of the curve of a ln(Cp) vs t plot?
- Central and peripheral compartments are at drug conc. equilibrium
- Drug is being eliminated from central compartment
What does ‘biliary’ mean?
Referring to bile or the bile duct
What are the main types of excretion?
(1) Kidneys -> Urine - primary route
(2) Biliary -> Faeces
What does ‘clearance’ refer to?
- Irreversible removal of a drug from systemic circulation by metabolism or excretion
- The volume of blood from which the drug is completely removed per unit of time
Where does clearance occur?
When blood flows through an organ of elimination
(1) Liver - metabolism
(2) Kidneys - excretion
Which organ is primarily associated with metabolism?
Liver
Which organ is primarily associated with excretion?
Kidney
How is the total clearance calculated?
CL(total) = CL(renal) - CL(non-renal)
Where does most non-renal clearance occur?
Metabolism in the liver
What is renal clearance?
Irreversible removal of a drug from the systemic circulation via excretion in the kidney
What is hepatic clearance?
Irreversible removal of a drug from the systemic circulation via metabolism in the liver
What are the units of clearance?
mL/ minute
OR
L/ hour
What equation is used to calculate first order clearance of a drug?
CL(s) = K(E)V(d)
Subscript (s) denotes systemic
Is drug clearance considered constant (first order)? Give a reason for your answer.
Yes.
Both K(E) and Vd are constants
In an equation, what does t(1/2) refer to?
Elimination half-life
What is elimination half-life {t(1/2)}?
Time taken for Cp to drop to Cp/2
e.g. 50mg/mL -> 25mg/mL
How is elimination half-life {t(1/2)} calculated?
t(1/2) = 0.693 / K(E)
What is the significance of 0.693 in an equation, relating to elimination?
It is the numerator for the equation used to calculate elimination half-life
What is the main reason a drug may be formulated as a salt or hydrate?
To increase solubility
What is the salt factor referred to as in short-hand?
S
What is the salt-factor?
The fraction of the administered dose that is the active pharmaceutical ingredient
How is the salt factor (S) calculated?
(Mr of API) / (Total Mr of drug)
How can blood plasma concentration be calculated?
Cp = (Total mass of drug in body) / Vd
Cp = (SxFxD) / Vd
What does ‘steady state’ refer to?
When the amount of drug administered in a given time is equal to amount of drug eliminated in the same given time
What is the steady state plasma concentration?
CpSS
How long does it take for a drug to reach steady state?
Depends on t(1/2), elimination half-life
When the amount of drug being absorbed = amount of drug being eliminated
(1) What is CpSS?
(2) How can it be calculated?
(1) Steady state plasma concentration
2
CpSS = (SxFxD) / (Clearance x dosing interval)
Define dosing interval.
The frequency of intermittent drug administration, based on elimination half-life {t(1/2)}