Geographical, genetic and environmental factors affecting drug disposition

Abstract

The disposition of drugs in man covers a wide variety of disparate areas. It includes the absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of drugs in or from the body. Absorption of drugs from the gastrointestinal tract is affected by a wide variety of different factors including pH changes, the presence or absence of food, drugs and disease processes [1]. Distribution of drugs throughout the body is also affected by a number of factors such as other drugs and disease processes. However, in this brief review it is not proposed to cover these two major areas of pharmacokinetics. Instead, I will concentrate on the factors which affect drug metabolism and will cover briefly some aspects of drug elimination from the body.