INTRODUCTION

In this activity, you can practise calculating pharmacokinetic parameters using the concentration-time data found for a dose of drug given via a single short intravenous infusion. In this example, the infusion was given for seven hours and then stopped. Click here for a pdf to help with this exercise.

As you work through the calculations, you will see that parameters are linked together and how finding the value of one parameter can enable you to go on and find the values of further parameters.

The pharmacokinetic parameters and other values you will calculate are:

• Half-life (t1/2)
• Elimination rate constant (k)
• Steady state concentration (CSS)
• Clearance (CL)
• Volume of distribution (Vd)