“Take on an empty stomach” means to take the drug within one hour before eating or two hours after eating. Take on an empty stomach is not interpreted as not eating.7 Q. What is the pharmacokinetics of an orally administered drug?
8 A. The pharmacokinetics of a drug administered orally such as penicillin VK is as follows (Gossel 1998a,b; Weinberg 2013).An orally administered drug is swallowed and goes down the esophagus. It is important to take a tablet/capsule with a full glass of water to facilitate its passage through the esophagus into the stomach.In the stomach, the tablet/capsule must be released or liberated from its formulation. Once a tablet is “broken up” and a capsule is “opened,” and the active ingredients are released, there is dissolution of the drug from the liberated drug particles. Some acidic drugs are enteric coated to protect the stomach lining. Dosage forms such as syrups or solutions are liquids, which are immediately available for absorption and transport. A liquid gel capsule (Aleve®, Advil®) is formulated to dissolve quickly, allowing the liquid inside the capsule to be absorbed fast.Drug goes into the upper part of the small intestine (duodenum) where most absorption into the systemic circulation occurs. This is because the small intestine has a large surface area due to microvilli, through which drugs may diffuse.From the small intestine, the drug molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream. Many factors can affect the rate and extent of drug absorption, including foods and minerals. For example, tetracycline should not be given at the same time as dairy products or minerals (e.g., iron, calcium, magnesium) because insoluble complexes form in the intestinal tract, which slows down absorption. This can be avoided by taking the tetracycline 1–2 hours before or after the dairy/mineral product. Some antibiotics (e.g., tetracycline) must be taken on an empty stomach (one hour before or two hours after meals), which increases the rate of absorption. Most antibiotics can be taken without regard to meals (with or without food) but if stomach upset occurs, these antibiotics can be taken with food (Huang et al. 2009).Absorption occurs when a drug is in a nonionized or charged form and if it is more lipid soluble. Most drugs are combined with a salt to enhance absorption (e.g., lidocaine HCl, tetracycline HCl, doxycycline hyclate, amoxicillin trihydrate).Before an orally administered drug reaches the systemic circulation, it goes to the liver via the portal vein whereby it is immediately exposed to metabolism by liver enzymes (Huang et al. 2009). This first exposure is referred to as the first‐pass effect. Some drugs such as lidocaine and morphine that undergo extensive first‐pass embolism will become inactive so they cannot be given orally. Diazepam (Valium®) has close to 100% bioavailability (low first‐pass metabolism) so it has similar oral and intravenous doses. Alternate routes of drug administration that bypass the first‐pass effect include sublingual, rectal, and parenteral (intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous) (Fagerholm 2007; Pond and Tozer 1984; Robertson 2017).Once it reaches systemic circulation, the drug is distributed in the blood to the various organs. Many drugs are bound to circulating proteins such as albumin (acidic drugs) and glycoproteins (basic drugs). Highly protein‐bound drugs are not active and only the free drug that is not bound to proteins is active.Once the drug has exerted its actions, it must then be eliminated from the body. The first part of drug elimination involves metabolism or biotransformation, which occurs mostly in the liver. It may take a drug several passes through the liver before it is entirely metabolized. Biotransformation converts lipid‐soluble drug molecules to metabolites or endproducts that are more water soluble and therefore easier to eliminate from the body. Most of the conversion of drugs occurs in the liver by metabolizing enzymes called microsomal enzymes. These enzymes, which are also called cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, are the primary enzymes responsible for the oxidation of many drugs. There are many different isoenzymes for different drugs (e.g., CYP3A4 is involved with many dental drugs). Many drug–drug and drug–food interactions occur via the microsomal enzymes. Some prodrugs have no pharmacological activity unless they are first metabolized to the active form in the body (e.g., codeine is metabolized by the liver enzyme CYP2D6 to the active morphine) (Weinberg 2013).Drug elimination: now the more water‐soluble metabolite must be eliminated from the body. The main route of drug elimination is excretion via the kidneys so diseases of the kidney can significantly prolong the duration of drug action. Therefore, dosage adjustments may be needed from the patient's physician. Some elimination occurs through the lungs, breast milk, sweat, tears, feces, and bile. Some drugs (e.g., tetracycline) undergo biliary excretion whereby the drug is eliminated in the bile and enters the small intestine and eventually leaves the body in the feces. Most bile is then circulated back to the liver by enterohepatic recirculation and eventually metabolized by the liver and excreted via the kidneys. This route of reabsorption is helpful in prolonging the activity (increasing the half‐life) of some antibiotics (Weinberg 2013).
9 Q. What is the definition of drug absorption?
10 A. Drug absorption is the movement of a drug from the site of administration to the systemic circulation.
11 Q. What does it mean when a drug has 100% bioavailability?
12 A. Bioavailability describes the portion of an administered drug that reaches the systemic circulation. It is the rate and extent of absorption and how fast and how much of the drug is absorbed. It indicates that the drug is 100% absorbed into the blood. Only intravenously administered drugs have 100% bioavailability because 100% of the drug enters directly into the blood. A drug administered orally that undergoes extensive first‐pass metabolism (or first‐pass effect) by traveling first to the liver, where it is metabolized, and can become almost inactive by the time it reaches the systemic circulation, is a drug with low bioavailability.
13 Q. What is the first step involved in drug absorption?
14 A. The first step before a drug can be absorbed in the small intestine is disintegration of the dosage formulation into a formulation that can easily be absorbed. The stomach might be expected to be the first site of absorption but in reality, very little absorption occurs in the stomach because the surface area is very small. A tablet must break up to expose the active ingredient, which takes some time. A capsule must open up, which takes less time than a tablet. A solution is already in a liquid, easily absorbed form and takes the least time for disintegration and absorption. The order of bioavailability is oral solution > oral suspension > capsule > tablet (Lloyd et al. 1978).
15 Q. Is there any systemic absorption of a topical anesthetic applied on the surface of the gingiva?
16 A. Yes. The purpose of topical agents is to maximize the concentration of the drug at the target site while minimizing potential systemic adverse effects. Although drug absorption is not desired, there could be some systemic absorption, especially if the agent is applied on abraded gingiva or skin. Because of its lipophilic nature, the stratum corneum of the skin may act as a reservoir for many drugs. Consequently, the local effects of the drug may persist long enough to allow once‐daily application. For example, once‐daily application of corticosteroid preparations is as effective as multiple applications in most circumstances. Direct access to the skin may predispose the patient to frequent topical applications, increasing the risk of systemic adverse effects.
17 Q. How does a drug get absorbed into the systemic circulation?
18 A. A drug must pass through many cell membranes to get into the blood. A drug must have some water solubility to go through aqueous fluids and some lipid solubility to get through the cell membrane, which is composed of two layers of phospholipids.
19 Q. What is the purpose of epinephrine added to local anesthetics?
20 A. Epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor that acts to constrict blood vessels to decrease blood flow in the submucosal area via activating alpha‐1 receptors (Becker and Reed 2012). This allows the anesthetic solution to stay at the site of action longer, which slows absorption of the anesthetic solution.
21 Q. What is drug distribution and what factors affect distribution?
22 A. Drug distribution is the movement of an agent through the blood or lymph to various sites of action in the body. An important
