Faculty of Science

Objectives

To offer the student an insight into the basic processes that govern the disposition of drugs and other xenobiotics by the human body.

Contents

Drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), and the mathematical treatments that have been applied to these processes; the different routes of drug administration (enteral and parenteral); first-pass metabolism, enterohepatic metabolism; physicochemical, formulation and clinical factors affecting drug absorption (such as gastrointestinal disease, drug-drug interactions and food-drug interactions); general drug distribution, capillary permeability, perfusion and diffusion effects, binding of drugs to plasma proteins, penetration of drugs into the CNS, intravascular/extravascular drug binding; mechanisms of drug metabolism, enzyme induction and inhibition; and renal excretion. Mathematical modeling of dosage regimens, clearance, and elimination; pharmacokinetic modeling.

Prerequisite: