Area under the curve (pharmacokinetics)

In the field of pharmacokinetics, the area under the curve (AUC) is the definite integral of the concentration of a drug in blood plasma as a function of time (this can be done using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry[1]). In practice, the drug concentration is measured at certain discrete points in time and the trapezoidal rule is used to estimate AUC. In pharmacology, the area under the plot of plasma concentration of a drug versus time after dosage (called “area under the curve” or AUC) gives insight into the extent of exposure to a drug and its clearance rate from the body.[2]

  1. ^ Maurer, Hans H. (2005). "Multi-analyte procedures for screening for and quantification of drugs in blood, plasma, or serum by liquid chromatography-single stage or tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS or LC-MS/MS) relevant to clinical and forensic toxicology". Clinical Biochemistry. 38 (4). Elsevier BV: 310–318. doi:10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2005.01.014. ISSN 0009-9120. PMID 15766732.
  2. ^ Scheff, J. D.; Almon, R. R.; Dubois, D. C.; Jusko, W. J.; Androulakis, I. P. (2011). "Assessment of Pharmacologic Area Under the Curve When Baselines are Variable". Pharmaceutical Research. 28 (5): 1081–1089. doi:10.1007/s11095-010-0363-8. PMC 3152796. PMID 21234658.