Compartmental Analysis and its Manifold Applications to Pharmacokinetics

摘要

In this paper, I show how the concept of compartment evolved from the simple dilution of a substance in a physiological volume to its distribution in a network of interconnected spaces. The differential equations describing the fate of a substance in a living being can be solved, qualitatively and quantitatively, with the help of a number of mathematical techniques. A number of parameters of pharmacokinetic interest can be computed from the experimental data; often, the data available are not sufficient to determine some parameters, but it is possible to determine their range.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1208/s12248-009-9160-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.