Volume of Distribution

Nick Holford; Dong-Seok Yim

doi:10.12793/tcp.2016.24.2.74

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Holford and Yim: Volume of Distribution

Original Article

Translational and Clinical Pharmacology 2016;24(2):74-77.

Published online: 15 June 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12793/tcp.2016.24.2.74

Volume of Distribution

Nick Holford^1,^∗, Dong-Seok Yim^2,³

¹Department of Pharmacology & Clinical Pharmacology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

²Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital

³PIPET (Pharmacometrics Institute for Practical Education and Training), College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea

^∗Correspondence: Nick Holford; Tel: +64-9-923-6730, E-mail: n.holford@auckland.ac.nz

Received 30 April 2016 Accepted 27 May 2016

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This tutorial deals with basic concepts of volume of distribution, the second most important parameter in pharmacokinetics but often challenging for students in clinical pharmacology. Its relationships with dose, concentration and amount in the body are discussed using a physical model and examples of commonly used drugs, as well as its physiological aspects pertaining to the physical volume of differing organs. Finally, application of volume of distribution to the calculation of loading dose and half-life is used to show how it is essential in pharmacotherapy and clinical pharmacology.

Keywords: volume, pharmacokinetics, clinical pharmacology

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