What's the difference between food and drug kinetics in human body?
Dear Naïrouz Benzeggouta
If I correctly understand your question is not about food impact on drug PK but exactly "pharmacokinetics" of food components. Its very interesting question. Of course term "pharmaco" could be used only for drugs not for other substances.
In general food contents take part exactly the same process like drug after per os administration :
- liberation
- absorption
- distribution
- redistribution
- metabolism
- elimination
Food intake is continuous process, that means substances available in the food are absorbed regularly after meal. In such situation we can talk or describe in scientific manner "kinetics" of some food components (single well defined substance) but not "food pharmacokinetics".
In case of food components is very complicated because many components of food are absorbed in very composite environment from chemical and physiological point of view. Food per se change pH, motility, blood perfusion, and other features of the stomach. That change cover not only stomach but bile ejection and other process influencing absorption every single substance - content of the food. Finally one single meal could deliver millions different substances into gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) which interact between each other in absorption phase and other kinetic (not pharmacokinetic) phases .....
Concluding your question there are many differences between
- drug pharmacokinetics (if we talk about drug)
- food components kinetics (if we talk about any content without PD activity)
But in both cases we can explain mechanisms and processes using current tools proposed by pharmacometrics.
Hope it helps
Best regards
Tomasz
Thank you Carole and Tomasz, your contribution is very helpful.
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