Pharmacokinetics

Pharmacologists can be considered pioneers of the study of kinetics of materials introduced into biological systems. The study of drug kinetics is particularly suited to a formulation of relatively simple models which make possible an interpretation of the time-dependent nature of various important phenomena (e. g. distribution by means of diffu sion through membranesl. The objective of the NATO ASI Course on Pharmacokinetics was that of presenting and dis cussing the mathematical and statistical approaches current ly available or being developed for the description, inter pretation and prediction of the fate of drugs and tracer substances administered to living beings. Different physi cal methods for measuring drugs and tracer substances were considered, but the emphasis was on the interpretation of the results of the measurements in terms of mathematical and statistical models. The present book contains all invit ed lectures given in this Course by outstanding internation al authorities and specialists from different fields. A great effort was made to keep a balance among the mathemati cal, physical, biological and clinical aspects of the prob lems; exchange of ideas and experiences between scientists with a physico-mathematical background and scientists with a biomedical background was encouraged and all participants were deeply involved in fruitful discussions. This unique feature of the Course is also the unique characteristic of this book which is therefore mainly directed to people interested not just in acquiring a working knowledge of the methods but in developing new methods.

Inhalt
History of Pharmacokinetics.- Conceptual Foundations and Uses of Models in Pharmacokinetics.- Development of Compartmental Concepts.- Modeling of Pharmacokinetic Data.- Mathematical Foundations of Linear Kinetics.- An Introduction to Stochastic Compartmental Models in Pharmacokinetics.- Modeling First-Pass Metabolism.- Saturable Drug Uptake by the Liver: Models, Experiments and Methodology.- Physiological Models, Allometry, Neoteny, Space-Time and Pharmacokinetics.- Equivalence of Bioavai1abi1ity and Efficacy in Drug Testing.- Modeling and Risk Assessment of Carcinogenic Dose-Response.- The Puzzle of Rates of Cellular Uptake of Protein-Bound Ligands.- A Pharmacokinetic Equation Guide for Clinicians.- Pharmacokinetic Studies in Man.- Metabolic Models in Radiation Protection.- Author Index.