Answer to Practice Problem #2 for Routes of Elimination of Xenobiotics Tutorial:

 

When drug is secreted into the bile, it is not immediately emptied into the intestines. Rather, it is delivered to the gall bladder where it is stored until periodic emptying occurs associated with food ingestion. This creates a ‘reservoir’ of drug that is periodically emptied into the small intestine, thereby allowing periodic drug enterohepatic recycling. This can result in a rise in drug concentration, causing periodic increases in an otherwise declining concentration versus time curve.

 

 

 

Last revised 07/17/04

 

ã 2004 -  Craig K. Svensson, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

 

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