Modeling of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationships: concepts and perspectives

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD)-modeling links dose-concentration relationships (PK) and concentration-effect relationships (PD), thereby facilitating the description and prediction of the time course of drug effects resulting from a certain dosing regimen. PK/PD-modeling approaches can basically be distinguished by four major attributes. The first characterizes the link between measured drug concentration and the response system, direct link versus indirect link. The second considers how the response system relates effect site concentration to the observed outcome, direct versus indirect response. The third regards what clinically or experimentally assessed information is used to establish the link between concentration and effect, hard link versus soft link. And the fourth considers the time dependency of pharmacodynamic model parameters, distinguishing between time-variant versus time-invariant. Application of PK/PD-modeling concepts has been identified as potentially beneficial in all phases of preclinical and clinical drug development. Although today predominantly limited to research, broader application of PK/PD-concepts in clinical therapy will provide a more rational basis for patient-specific dosage individualization and may thus guide applied pharmacotherapy to a higher level of performance.