Absorption

Satabdi Ghosh
Phase A Resident
Department of Pharmacology, BSMMU.
 Absorption
• It is the process by which drugs enter into systemic
circulation from the site of administration through the
biological membrane or barrier.
Sites
• Alimentary tract: oral cavity, stomach, small intestine, rectum
• Muscle & subcutaneous tissue
• Skin
• Respiratory tract
• Eye
Processes
• Simple diffusion
• Facilitated diffusion
• Filtration
• Active transport
• Endocytosis
• Ion pair transport
 Simple diffusion
• Spontaneous movement of drug through biological membrane
from higher concentration to lower concentration.
• Most of the drugs undergoes simple diffusion.
• It requires no carrier and energy.
• It follows 1st order kinetics.
• Example – aspirin, morphine, barbiturate etc.
 Facilitated diffusion
• Passage of drug across the biological membrane along the
concentration gradient by the protein carrier mediated
transport system.
• It requires no energy.
• It is also known as carrier mediated diffusion.
• Example – tetracycline, vitamin B12.
 Active transport
• Movement of drugs across the biological membrane against
the concentration gradient with the help of carrier protein
along with the expenditure of energy.
• It is two types:
1. Primary active transport
2. Secondary active transport
• Sites: Hepatocyte, renal tubular cell, neuronal membrane
etc.
• Example - alpha methyldopa, levodopa etc.
 Ion pair transport
• Highly ionized lipophobic drugs combine reversibly with
some endogenous substance to form neutral ion pair
complex and then move across the membrane.
• Example – vitamin A, D, E, K and anti cancer drug.
Source: Process of absorption. Adapted from Campbell Biology
by Reece et al. Copyright from Pearson Education, Inc.
 Factors affecting absorption
A) Factors related to drug itself:
• Route of administration
• Physical form of drug
• Lipid solubility of drug
• Degree of ionization
• Molecular weight of drug
• Size of drug
B) Factor related to absorptive environment:
• PH of the absorptive media
• Absorptive surface area
• Vascularity
• Pathological condition
• Presence of food in the gut
Why future physician needs to know about
absorption

• To select appropriate form and route of drugs

• To reduce side effect
• To achieve desired effect by delaying the process of
absorption
Thank You