RLO: Introduction to drug clearance

Clearance defined

What do we mean by drug clearance? Drug clearance is concerned with the rate at which the active drug is removed from the body; and for most drugs at steady state, clearance remains constant so that drug input equals drug output.

Clearance is defined as the rate of drug elimination divided by the plasma concentration of the drug.

Drug clearance is influenced by age and by disease, with a reduction in drug clearance being associated with an increase in the half-life of the drug, and an increase in clearance being associated with a decrease in the half-life of the drug.

 

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