Add-in macros for rapid and versatile calculation of non-compartmental pharmacokinetic parameters on Microsoft Excel...

We developed a package of macro programs (named PK_MOMENT) to automatically calculate non-compartmental pharmacokinetic parameters on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. These macros include rigorous algorithms to execute moment calculations in a comprehensive manner. An optimum number of terminal data points for infinite-time extrapolation can be calculated with one of these macros so that automatic calculation of infinite moment parameters is possible. The moment calculation with PK_MOMENT provided satisfactory results using the hybrid (mixed linear-logarithmic) trapezoidal method rather than the conventional linear trapezoidal method. The macro-aided pharmacokinetic analyses turned out to be useful in that the macro-containing cells can be easily copied and pasted to analyze other data sets and that powerful tools of Excel can be utilized. The use of our macros will be significantly time-saving for routine pharmacokinetic analyses, considering that pharmacokinetic data are usually stored in a spreadsheet format, typically with Excel.