ISSN: 2044-9038 (Print) 2044-9046 (Electronic)

Clinical Practice

Drug Distribution Journal Scientific Journal

The process of transferring a drug from the bloodstream to tissues is referred to as distribution. The same principles that govern drug absorption (e.g. ionization of a drug, lipophillicity of a drug, size of a drug, pH of the environment, etc.) also govern the speed and extent that a drug will distribute to various tissues in the body. In addition, there are additional factors at play, particularlyCommonly, drugs bind non-specifically to albumin within the plasma. Additionally, one drug, digoxin, tends to bind non-specifically to striated muscle, when, in fact, its desired actions occur within the heart. When drugs bind non-specifically to proteins, their movement is restricted. That is because the large proteins to which they are bound will not be able to readily distribute to other parts of the body. The protein acts as a “reservoir” of sorts. As long as a drug is bound non-specifically to a protein, it cannot have a therapeutic action, nor can it's eliminated (metabolized hepatically by the liver or excreted by the kidneys). Non-specific binding to drugs can also play a role in drug-drug interactions; if two or more drugs are competing for the same binding site, one drug will displace the other, thereby, leading to potential toxicity caused by the drug that was displaced.                

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