ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of basic pharmacokinetic principles so that the data tabulated in the remainder of the text will be useful. Pharmacokinetics is the study of the time course of drug and xenobiotic concentrations in the body. The chapter focuses on statistical considerations of fitting a polyexponential pharmacokinetic equation to experimental timeconcentration data. Statistical considerations on the variability within and between individuals can best be discussed in the framework of population pharmacokinetic analysis. For many drugs, a single passage through the liver will result in the biotransformation of all presented compound. The elimination of these drugs, which have a high hepatic extraction ratio, is dependent upon the rate of hepatic blood flow. If a drug is not administered intravenously, then there will be a delay in its reaching the systemic circulation. Absorption increases drug serum concentrations over time. The primary factors to consider when administering a dose of drug extravascularly are the rate and extent of drug absorption.
