Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic volumes

Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Model—is comprised of a series of compartments representing organs or tissue groups with realistic weights and blood flows. These models require a variety of physiological information tissue volumes, blood flow rates to tissues, cardiac output, alveolar ventilation rates and, possibly membrane permeabilities. The models also utilize biochemical information such as air/blood partition coefficients, and metabolic parameters. PBPK models are also called biologically based tissue dosimetry models. 

A physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) model based on the ventilation rate, cardiac output, tissue blood flow rates, and volumes as well as measured tissue/air and blood/air partition coefficients has been developed (Medinsky et al. 1989a Travis et al. 1990). Experimentally determined data and model simulations indicated that during and after 6 hours of inhalation exposure to benzene, mice metabolized benzene more efficiently than rats (Medinsky et al. 1989a). After oral exposure, mice and rats appeared to metabolize benzene similarly up to oral doses of 50 mg/kg, above which rats metabolized more benzene than did mice on a per kg body weight basis (Medinsky et al. 1989b). This model may be able to predict the human response based on animal data. Benzene metabolism followed Michaelis-Menton kinetics in vivo primarily in the liver, and to a lesser extent in the bone marrow. Additional information on PBPK modeling is presented in Section 2.3.5. 

Poulin and Theil have developed a mechanistic model for estimating the Vd based on physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK). For this method, the tissue plasma partition coefficient for each organ of the body is calculated by consideration of the volume fraction of neutral and phospholipids and water found in the tissues of a particular organ. For example, the volume fraction of neutral lipids in human adipose tissue is 0.79 whereas the volume fraction of neutral lipids in cardiac tissue is 0.0115. By contrast the volume fraction of water in adipose and heart are 0.18 and 0.76 respectively. Combined with the P, these volume fractions are used to estimate the distribution of a drag molecule into each tissue. Summation of the product of tissue volume and tissue/plasma partition coefficient produces the estimate of Vd. ... 

Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models are a special type of PK model that attempts to provide more definition to the model analysis by incorporating physiological factors into the model design, like tissue volumes, blood flow rates, and species-specific enzyme characteristics that can more accurately differentiate the dose-response relationship for a chemical or drug in one species from that of another species. The power of this approach is to be able to perform laboratory studies, both in vitro and in vivo, in common experimental species... 

As discussed in Chapter 30 and elsewhere (13), interspecies scaling is based upon allometry (an empirical approach) or physiology. Protein pharmacokinetic parameters such as volume of distribution (Pd), elimination half-life (b/2)/ and elimination clearance (CL) have been scaled across species using the standard allometric equation (14) ... 

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