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Real and Apparent Volumes of Distribution

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Synonyms

Apparent volume of distribution; Real volume of distribution; Steady state volume of distribution; Volume of distribution; Volume of distribution area

Definition

The real volume of distribution of a drug has physiological meaning, as it is related to the volume of body water accessible to the drug (including intracellular and extracellular fluid). Total body water represents 50%–70% of the total body weight; two thirds of it correspond to intracellular fluid, whereas the remaining one third corresponds to extracellular fluid (around 75% interstitial fluid and 25% plasma) [1]. Since an adult presents about 600 mL of body water per kilogram of body weight (which varies between 500 and 700 mL/kg depending on sex and age), the upper bound for the real volume of distribution of a drug will be around 42 L for a person weighing 70 kg. No drug might have, for such an individual, a real volume of distribution significantly above that approximate value. Furthermore, only a drug that...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Bioactive Research and Development (LIDeB), Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, University of La Plata (UNLP), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alan Talevi & Carolina L. Bellera

  2. Argentinean National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) - CCT La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alan Talevi & Carolina L. Bellera

Authors
  1. Alan Talevi
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  2. Carolina L. Bellera
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Correspondence to Alan Talevi .

Section Editor information

  1. Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, National University of la Plata (UNLP) - Argentinean National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alan Talevi

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Talevi, A., Bellera, C.L. (2021). Real and Apparent Volumes of Distribution. In: The ADME Encyclopedia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51519-5_52-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51519-5_52-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51519-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51519-5

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