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The AAPS Journal

, Volume 12, Issue 1, pp 61–72 | Cite as

Compartmental Analysis and its Manifold Applications to Pharmacokinetics

  • Aldo Rescigno
Review Article Theme: Pharmacokinetics, Biopharmaceutics and Bioequivalence: History and Perspectives
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

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.

Key words

exit time flow graphs permanence time residence time tracer kinetics transfer function turnover time 
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Notes

Acknowledgment

I am grateful to Dr. Anthony Hunt, Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, for his help in preparing this manuscript.

Supplementary material

12248_2009_9160_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (1 mb)
ESM 1 (PDF 1069 kb)

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Copyright information

© American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.StillwaterUSA

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