The Canadian journal of clinical pharmacology = Journal canadien de pharmacologie clinique
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Can J Clin Pharmacol · Jan 2003
ReviewThe kidney--the body's playground for drugs: an overview of renal drug handling with selected clinical correlates.
A greater understanding of transport mechanisms contributing to renal drug handling may be useful in predicting drug clearance and drug interactions. Renal clearance is a dynamic process expressed as the sum of the rates of glomerular filtration and tubular secretion minus the rate of tubular reabsorption. Because the transport of drugs is often against a concentration gradient, renal secretion is mostly an active process involving a variety of transporter mechanisms. ⋯ This paper provides a brief overview of several identified renal transport proteins including organic anion transporters, organic cation transporters, ATP-dependent transporters (multidrug resistance [P-gp] and multi-drug resistance associated protein), nucleoside transporters (sodium-dependent purine nucleoside transporter and concentrative nucleoside transporter 1) and peptide transporters. A special focus on known P-gp-mediated drug interactions is included to demonstrate the clinical relevance of transporter protein science. At the patient level, this may lead to novel approaches to alter in vivo pharmacokinetics and improve drug safety through a greater understanding of toxic substrate clearance and drug interactions.