Basic Pharmacokinetic Principles

The goal of antibiotic drug development is to define optimized dosing regimens that produce maximal therapeutic efficacy with minimal toxic effects. Pharmacokinetics describes the relationship between dose administered and time course of drug concentration and is characterized by systemic input and disposition kinetic processes. An understanding of drug pharmacokinetics is therefore necessary to optimize drug therapy and provide dose recommendation in populations of interest. Here, we review the basic principles defining drug pharmacokinetics, followed by an overview of the methods associated with data analysis and parameter estimation. We then briefly explore the pharmacodynamic indices relevant to antibiotic dosing and discuss how physiological alterations in critically ill patients may influence drug pharmacokinetics. Finally, we provide some examples of pharmacokinetic dosing considerations for specific classes of antibiotic drugs.