[Pharmacokinetics in Children - What is Important for Correct Drug Dosage?] 2019

Frank Fideler

Under- or overdosage of medication can lead to severe side effects in children. To avoid this, precise knowledge of age-specific liberation, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion - LADME for short - is necessary. Absorption can take place intravenously, orally, rectally, intranasally, transdermally or epidurally/caudally and is associated with numerous special features in children, depending on age and route of application. The distribution in children is faster due to more permeable organ barriers between individual organs and must be adapted for hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs to the patient's age as well as their fat and fat-free body parts. Drug biotransformation takes place through Phase I and Phase II reactions, predominantly in the liver and kidneys. The cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzyme system is the most important system for this and requires dose adjustment for numerous drugs in the first phase of life. Due to immature kidney function, all drugs with high renal clearance have a prolonged duration of action in the first months of life. Biliary excretion is particularly important for substances with a molecular weight of > 500 g/mol and is of limited functionality during the first months of life. The amount of substrate that is eliminated by the liver and kidneys within a defined period of time is known as clearance and is strongly dependent on the substance and age of the child. Reciprocal to this is the elimination half-life, which has to be considered especially with repetitive administration. Only with sufficient experience with pharmacokinetic variations or comedications within the different age groups, a patient-adapted, individually correct dose application is possible. The knowledge of the age-specific pharmacokinetics together with the knowledge of patient-specific peculiarities and comedications allow an individual drug application characterized by heuristics.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007668 Kidney Body organ that filters blood for the secretion of URINE and that regulates ion concentrations. Kidneys
D008099 Liver A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances. Livers
D010599 Pharmacokinetics Dynamic and kinetic mechanisms of exogenous chemical DRUG LIBERATION; ABSORPTION; BIOLOGICAL TRANSPORT; TISSUE DISTRIBUTION; BIOTRANSFORMATION; elimination; and DRUG TOXICITY as a function of dosage, and rate of METABOLISM. LADMER, ADME and ADMET are abbreviations for liberation, absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicology. ADME,ADME-Tox,ADMET,Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination, and Toxicology,Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Elimination,Drug Kinetics,Kinetics, Drug,LADMER,Liberation, Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination, and Response
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D004364 Pharmaceutical Preparations Drugs intended for human or veterinary use, presented in their finished dosage form. Included here are materials used in the preparation and/or formulation of the finished dosage form. Drug,Drugs,Pharmaceutical,Pharmaceutical Preparation,Pharmaceutical Product,Pharmaceutic Preparations,Pharmaceutical Products,Pharmaceuticals,Preparations, Pharmaceutical,Preparation, Pharmaceutical,Preparations, Pharmaceutic,Product, Pharmaceutical,Products, Pharmaceutical
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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