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Pharmacy & Pharmacology vocabulary · Pharmacokinetics

Plasma concentration

Meaning in pharmacy & pharmacology, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In pharmacy & pharmacology, plasma concentration means: The amount of a drug in a given volume of blood plasma at a particular time, used to describe how a drug behaves and to check that levels are safe.

In Turkish: plazma konsantrasyonu, kan düzeyi, plazma düzeyi

How it is used

Key terms are Cmax (peak concentration), Tmax (time to peak) and trough level (the lowest level, just before the next dose). In therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), pharmacists interpret levels of drugs such as vancomycin, gentamicin, lithium and digoxin. On the ward people simply say 'drug levels'.

Example sentences

  1. The plasma concentration peaks about two hours after an oral dose.

  2. We need a trough level to check the plasma concentration of vancomycin before the next dose.

Common collocations

  • peak plasma concentration
  • trough level
  • therapeutic drug monitoring
  • concentration-time curve
  • therapeutic indexA measure of a drug's safety that compares the dose that causes harm with the dose that gives the wanted effect; a narrow index means these doses are close together.
  • steady stateThe point during regular dosing when the amount of drug entering the body equals the amount being removed, so blood levels stay within a stable range.
  • half-lifeThe time it takes for the amount or concentration of a drug in the blood to fall to half of its starting level.
  • toxicityThe harmful effects a drug or chemical has on the body, especially at high doses or blood levels, or the degree to which a substance is poisonous.

More terms: Pharmacokinetics

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