What is the term for the process of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of a drug?

The process of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of a drug is referred to as pharmacokinetics. This term encompasses how a drug moves through the body and how the body affects the drug over time. It is crucial in understanding the onset, intensity, and duration of a drug's effects.

Pharmacokinetics helps researchers and healthcare professionals determine proper dosing regimens and predict how an individual may respond to a specific medication. This information is vital for developing effective and safe therapeutic interventions.

Other terms such as therapeutic transformation or pharmacodynamics refer to different aspects of pharmacology. Therapeutic transformation might imply the changes in drug effectiveness or behavior once administered, and pharmacodynamics specifically focuses on the biological effects of drugs on the body, including mechanisms of action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect. Drug interactions study pertains to how different substances can affect each other’s actions when administered together, which is not directly related to the fundamental processes of pharmacokinetics.