Pharmacokinetics

Pharmacokinetics is the effect that the body has on drugs.

All aspects of pharmacokinetics can be covered by the acronym ADME, which stands for:

Absorption

Distribution

Metabolism

Excretion

These underpin how a clinician chooses to use a drug and a good knowledge of a drug's pharmacokinetics will help one predict when therapeutic failure may occur and to enable one to safely use unliscensed products or multiple drugs on one patient. It must also be remembered that the the follwing factors also have an effect on a drug's pharmacokinetics:

• renal, hepatic and gastrointestinal disease
• multiple drug therapy
• species treated
• age
• drug formulation