Pharm Q: Elimination vs Excretion

[BlondeCookie]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Sorry for the very basic question, but I was wondering if there is a difference between elimination and excretion. I'm sure that they are similar, but I had in my old Pharm notes that the difference had something to do with metabolism. One of them is metabolized and the other isn't. Or something like that. I can't even understand my old notes. 😕

 

[ASDIC]

in elimination the drug is inactivated and may remain in your body.
in excretion the drug maybe inactivated but it no longer remains in your body.

 

[BlondeCookie]

Ok, that makes sense, but then what is the difference between elimination and clearance?

 

[Blesbok]

Ok, that makes sense, but then what is the difference between elimination and clearance?

Elimination = no longer active whether it has just been metabolized or has been removed from the body

Clearance = usually refers to renal excretion, but could potentially be used for any type of removal from the body


In the end, it doesn't matter because the usmle is not going to test you on semantics.

 

[BlondeCookie]

Elimination = no longer active whether it has just been metabolized or has been removed from the body

Clearance = usually refers to renal excretion, but could potentially be used for any type of removal from the body


In the end, it doesn't matter because the usmle is not going to test you on semantics.

Perfect! I got it now. Thank you guys very much. Elimination refers to a drug that is no longer active, whether it is in the body or not. Excretion and clearance refers to getting that drug (or drug metabolite) out of the body.

 

[Lt SAm]

hello there, let me make u guys clear.
"Drug elimination refers to the irreversible removal of drug from the body by all routes of elimination".
and elimination is divided into 2 types..
1. Excretion
2. Bio transformation
now, excretion is removal of intact drug.
on the other side, bio transformation is the process by which the drug is chemically converted in he body into its metabolites..

while clearance is the removal of drug from body without identifying the mechanism..
i have took all this form the authentic book of bio pharmaceutics.

hope i dnt need to further explain these terms.... 🙂

 

[Dallas]

I thought clearance was a concept involved with time. The formula is 0.7 * Vd / half-life. Thus its elimination/excretion as a function over time.

 

[Sunshine_1990]

Clearance is the VOLUME of fluid "cleared" of the drug per unit time. (volume cleared/time)
Elimination refers to the AMOUNT of the DRUG that was cleared. (mass)
Clearance gives us the idea of the "Rate" of elimination of the drug (mass/time)
ex.
A B
1. ( o o o ) --> o
2. (o 0 ) --> o o
3. (o ) --> o o o
4. ( ) --> o o o o
take it that the space between ( ) is fluid and o o o are the drugs in your body
Clearance is how fast the fluid is cleared from A: #1 to #4.
It corresponds to the rate of elimination from B:#1 ro #4.

You can watch this video: