FOUNDATIONS OF PHARMACOKINETICS - ajprd

245 Pages·2006·5.23 MB·English

FOUNDATIONS OF
PHARMACOKINETICS
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FOUNDATIONS OF
PHARMACOKINETICS
ALDO RESCIGNO
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK,BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW
eBookISBN: 0-306-47924-9
Print ISBN: 0-306-47704-1
©2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers
NewYork, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow
Print ©2003 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
New York
All rights reserved
No part of this eBook maybe reproducedor transmitted inanyform or byanymeans,electronic,
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Created in the United States of America
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To my wife Luisa
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Nec sum animi dubius, verbis ea vincere magnum
quam sit et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem.
Virgil, Georgicon, III, 289.
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PREFACE
This book has its origin in my experience as a teacher of pharmacokinetics in many
universities in four different continents.
It was not my intention to write a popular book; what distinguishes this one from
many others on the same subject is its large use of algebra and calculus. For this I make
no apologies; in fact a serious study of pharmacokinetics without the help of mathematics
is, in my opinion, impossible. The exact definition of many pharmacokinetic quantities,
even the most common, and the correct use of many equations, even the most simple,
requires the constant use of mathematical language.
On the other hand I have made a considerable effort to use only elementary algebra
and elementary calculus, as commonly taught in most introductory university courses.
For the few exceptions, when less common mathematical concepts were needed, I have
supplied the necessary explanations in four appendices.
The first three chapters are a general introduction to the scientific method.
Chapters 4 to 12 show differentspecific methods to deal with pharmacokinetic prob-
lems. There is considerable overlap among those chapters; this is intentional and its pur-
pose is to convince the reader that every problem can be solved in more than one way,
including ways that were not mentioned in this book and that intelligent readers can find
for their own pleasure.
Chapters 13 to 17 show how different parameters of importance in pharmacokinetics
can be exactly defined and measured.
The four appendices deal with a few mathematical concepts that are less frequently
taught in introductory courses on algebra and calculus. The interested reader can study
them in detail, or simply use their results as indicated by the cross-references.
I owe a big debt of gratitude to my late friend Giorgio Segre who introduced me to
the study of pharmacokinetics. Many years ago we wrote together a monograph on “Drug
and Tracer Kinetics”, now out of print; this volume is, in a sense, the continuation and
conclusion of that monograph.
For the preparation of this book I had no grants or financial aid on any sort, just the
help of a few friends, most notably Dr. James S. Beck of Calgary, Alberta, and Dr. Marta
Farolfi of Solarolo, Italy; to them go all my thanks.
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