The Hummel-Dreyer method: impact in pharmacology

Reviews devoted to drug-protein binding present mostly a variety of analytical methods applied to studying the unique process when the protein reversibly binds a low-molecular-weight substance-the drug. This report, however, reviews the great majority of papers presenting the application of one particular method introduced by Hummel and Dreyer in 1962: Measurement of protein-binding phenomena by gel filtration. The main criterion in reviewing published papers was the application of the Hummel-Dreyer method when the counterpart substances were the drug and the human plasma protein.