Course overview
The aim of this course is to apply prior knowledge of the absorption, distribution and elimination of drugs in the design and evaluation of the dosage regimens of drugs Overview of the time-course of drugs in the body. Calculation and interpretation of pharmacokinetic parameters. Pharmacokinetic processes of absorption, distribution and clearance and their physiological determinants. Mechanisms for the genetic and environmental basis for inter-subject differences in the metabolism and transport of drugs in the body. Metabolite kinetics. Non-linear pharmacokinetics. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships. Therapeutic regimens and dosage adjustments in disease states, in the young and in the elderly. Pharmacokinetic drug interactions. Bioavailability and bioequivalence. Evaluation of the biopharmaceutical performance of dosage forms.
Course learning outcomes
- Explain the role of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors as determinants of drug response and the time course of dose-response relationships
- Calculate and interpret the meaning of pharmacokinetic parameters from a physiological viewpoint
- Discuss how physiological, environmental and genetic factors can affect the mechanism of metabolism and transport of drugs in the body
- Predict the effect of physiological, pathological and pharmacological factors on the pharmacokinetics of a drug
- Design a drug dosage regimen for a patient based on relevant pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic information, taking into account adjustments needed in the presence of different disease states or interacting drugs
- Explain the biopharmaceutical factors which dictate the in-vivo performance of different oral and non-oral dosage forms
- Evaluate the practical use of drugs in patients by application of knowledge from pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutics.