Pharmacokinetic principles in relation to serum drug sample collections.
Pharmacokinetics is a relatively new field in the health sciences. It is receiving more interest and utilization as patients' serum drug levels are being correlated with clinical response and drug side effects and toxicities. Many variable factors influence serum drug levels, consequently affecting the interpretation of these levels and possibly altering therapy. We discuss some of these variables in relation to proper timing for serum sampling, and suggest times for peak level serum sampling of some commonly monitored drugs.
D001702:Biopharmaceutics; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations