[Drug pharmacokinetics in renal failure: What's new?]

The prevalence and incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has steadily increased over the past two decades attributed to an important raise of cases of diabetes, hypertension and obesity, leading risk factors of renal failure. CKD is known to impair drug disposition of non-renally eliminated medications that may lead to unintended toxicity or lower therapeutic effect despite dose adjustment according to glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Modulation of metabolism enzymes (cytochrome P450, phase II) and drug transporters in various organs (intestines, liver, kidneys and brain) are being held responsible for altered pharmacokinetics where uremic toxins, inflammatory cytokines and parathyroid hormone, common factors present in CKD, may be considered possible culprits. This review gives a thorough summary of the recent preclinical, clinical studies and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines and allows a current understanding of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion in CKD.