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Pharmacology

Pharmacokinetics - Part 1

You can maximize your learning by taking notes that


summarize the key concepts; you should save these
notes and review them. Use this document as an
outline for your note-taking. You can fill in the fields
on this interactive PDF digitally or print it out and
write on paper.

Concept Video Notes


Use the space below to jot down key points for each concept video. Attempt
to make connections between the concepts explained in these videos and
others already covered in the course. Are you unsure about any of the content?

Pharmacokinetics

Absorption

Bioavailability

Distribution

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
Body Compartments

Volume of Distribution

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
Key Terms
These are the key terms and concepts covered in this lesson. After you have
learned a term, take a moment to write out your own explanation of the term.

Absorption

Active transport

Area under the curve (AUC)

Bioavailability

Blood-brain barrier

Body fluid compartments

C50

Cmax

Concentration gradient

Diffusion distance

Distribution

Excretion

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
Facilitated diffusion

Fat-soluble molecules

Fick’s Law

Gastrointestinal tract (GI tract)

Half-life (t1/2)

Hydrophilic molecules

Hydrophobic molecules

Interstitial fluid

Intracellular fluid

Ionized

Metabolism

Non-ionized

Nonpolar molecules

Partition

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
Passive diffusion

Plasma

Plasma protein binding

Polar molecules

Portal circulation

Systemic circulation

tmax

Transcellular fluid

Volume of distribution (Vd)

Water-soluble molecules

Weak acid

Weak base

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
Learning Objectives
After you have completed the lesson, go through the learning objectives again.
Are you able to fill in a complete response to each learning objective?

1) Define pharmacokinetics and summarize the main processes that occur as a drug passes through the body.

2) Describe the primary path of absorption and distribution of an orally administered drug in the body.

3) Name the mechanisms by which drugs cross cell membranes and describe how the chemical properties of drugs influence their
absorption across membranes.

4) Explain bioavailability and compare bioavailability between different routes of administration.

5) Recall the phases of distribution and the factors that limit drug availability at its molecular target.

6) Compare and contrast the volume of fluid compartments within the body and predict how the sizes of these compartments
vary with patient characteristics, such as obesity and age.

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
7) Recall the high and low ranges for volume of distribution.

8) Calculate the volume of distribution of a drug given its plasma concentration and the dose of drug administered.

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
Summary Figures
1) On the first graph below, label the following parameters: Cmax, C50, t1/2, tmax, and AUC.
On the second graph below, put the following labels on the concentration curve
corresponding to the range of time over which each occurs: absorption, distribution,
metabolism, and excretion.

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1
2) Apply what you have learned so far in this course about routes of administration,
absorption, and distribution to complete the table below. You may not know all of the
answers but try to fill out the table below as best you can. Think about how the route
of administration will vary depending on specific circumstances. Which routes of
administration would have the highest and lowest bioavailability? Which routes are most
likely to be used in an acute care setting, when the patient is not conscious? Which routes
are used to deliver drugs locally, to specific organs or regions of the body?

Route of
Intravenous Intramuscular Oral Transdermal Inhalation
administration

Barriers a drug must


cross to be absorbed

Onset of action
(fast or slow)

Passes through
the liver before
systemic circulation?
(yes or no)

Advantages and
disadvantages
of this route

Share Your Notes


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To share your completed Notepad, please email your PDF to hmxnotepad@hms.harvard.edu.

Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Pharmacology
Pharmacokinetics - Part 1

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