PHARMACO-KINETICS
PHARMOKINETICS
Pharmacokinetics, (PK), is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to determining the fate of substances administered to a living organism. The substances of interest include any chemical xenobiotic such as: pharmaceutical drugs, pesticides, food additives, cosmetics, etc. It attempts to analyse chemical metabolism and to discover the fate of a chemical from the moment that it is administered up to the point at which it is completely eliminated from the body.
Pharmacokinetics is the study of how an organism affects a drug, whereas pharmacodynamics (PD) is the study of how the drug affects the organism. Both together influence dosing, benefit, and adverse effects, as seen in PK/PD models.
Graphic representation of a physiologically based whole body model. Here, it is dissected into seven tissue/organ compartments: brain, lungs and heart, pancreas, liver, gut, kidney and adipose/muscle tissue. Blood flows, Q, and concentration, [X], of a substance of interest are depicted.
As an example of pharmacokinetic modelling, in which FACSIMILE tools could be applied, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling is a technique for predicting the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of synthetic or natural chemical substances in humans and other animal species. PBPK modelling is used in pharmaceutical research and drug development, and in health risk assessment for cosmetics or general chemicals. PBPK models strive to be mechanistic by mathematically transcribing anatomical, physiological, physical, and chemical descriptions of the phenomena involved in the complex ADME processes.
For more direct examples of application in pharmacokinetics, follow the FACSIMILE Applications links: