pharmacokinetics
Definition
Pharmacokinetics (PK) describes what the body does to a drug, encompassing the time course of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME). It quantifies drug concentration changes in plasma and tissues over time, determining dosing regimens and therapeutic windows. Key parameters include bioavailability, volume of distribution, clearance, and half-life. PK is critical for understanding drug efficacy and safety, as it determines whether therapeutic concentrations reach target tissues. Factors affecting PK include enzyme activity (particularly cytochrome P450s), transporter proteins, protein binding, organ function, and drug-drug interactions. Mathematical modeling of PK profiles enables prediction of optimal dosing strategies and identification of patient populations requiring dose adjustments.
Visualize pharmacokinetics in Nodes Bio
Researchers can map pharmacokinetic networks showing relationships between drugs, metabolizing enzymes, transporters, and metabolites. Visualize how genetic variants in CYP450 enzymes affect drug metabolism pathways, or explore multi-drug interaction networks where one compound alters another's ADME profile. Network analysis reveals bottleneck enzymes and critical transporters influencing drug disposition across tissues.
Visualization Ideas:
- Drug metabolism pathway networks showing parent compounds, metabolites, and catalyzing enzymes
- Transporter protein networks mapping drug movement across tissue barriers and cellular membranes
- Drug-drug interaction networks displaying competitive inhibition at metabolizing enzymes and shared clearance pathways
Example Use Case
A pharmaceutical team developing a kinase inhibitor discovers unexpected drug-drug interactions during clinical trials. Using network visualization, they map the compound's metabolic pathway, identifying CYP3A4 as the primary metabolizing enzyme. The network reveals that co-administered medications also compete for CYP3A4, explaining elevated plasma concentrations and adverse events. By visualizing transporter proteins (P-glycoprotein, OATP1B1) and their tissue expression patterns, researchers identify alternative formulation strategies to improve the drug's PK profile and reduce interaction potential.