Abstract

PHARMACOKINETICS OF DRUGS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES FOR CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

Leelavathi K.*, Dr. A. Suresh, Chinnasamy T., Rufiyabanu S., Mounish K., Veeran M. and G. Jambukumar

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Abstract

Drug-drug interactions are one of the most common causes of medication errors in developed countries, especially in the elderly because of poly-therapy (20-40%). Poly-therapy makes treatment more complex and thus increases the risk of clinically relevant drug-drug interactions. Drug-drug interactions can either cause adverse drug reactions or decrease clinical efficacy. DDIs can be divided into two main categories: pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In this review we searched articles published up to June 30, 2012 using the following databases: Medline; PubMed; Embase; Cochrane library; and reference lists. We discussed the mechanisms of pharmacokinetic, focusing on their clinical implications.

Keywords: Absorption, Adverse drug reaction, Distribution, Drug-drug interactions, Excretion, Metabolism, Poly-therapy.