ABSTRACT
As pointed out by Shargel et al. (2005), the objectives of pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation are to:
(1) Predict plasma, tissue, and urine drug levels with any dosage regimen (2) Calculate the optimum dosage regimen for each patient individually (3) Estimate the possible accumulation of drugs and/or metabolites (4) Correlate drug concentrations with pharmacologic/toxicologic activity (5) Evaluate differences in the rate or extent of availability between formu-
lations (bioequivalence) (6) Describe how changes in physiology or disease affect the absorption,
distribution, or elimination of the drug (7) Explain drug interactions
As we discussed in Chapter 9, for a drug to interact with a target, it is necessary for the drug to present a sufficient concentration in the fluid medium surrounding the cells with receptors. Pharmacokinetics is the study of the kinetics of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion
to specific site for the drug-receptor interaction.
