An introduction to principles of veterinary clinical pharmacology: the elimination of drugs. 1. Rate of drug elimination

Authors: Baggot JD
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 22, Issue 3, pp 31-37, Mar 1974
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock
Subject Terms: Metabolic disease, Pharmacology
Article class: Scientific Article

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Abstract: After a drug has entered the bloodstream it is distributed throughout the body in the water phase of plasma. Kinetics of the distribution. and elimination of the majority of drugs may be accurately described by considering the body to be a two-compartment open model (Nelson, 1961; Notari, 1971). The principles of drug distribution were reviewed in another article (Baggot, 1974). A drug administered intravenously will undergo simultaneous distribution, and elimination processes. The drug disappearance rate from plasma during the initial phase is fast and related both to the extent of distribution and to the efficiency of elimination mechanisms. Distribution is frequently a rapid process; (pseudo-) diffusion equilibrium is quickly established between the central and peripheral compartments. Certain generalizations may be made concerning drug distribution…

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