ABPI Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries

Absorption is the process by which a medicine enters the blood stream.

ADR's adverse drug reactions

ADE adverse drug event

APRIL Adverse Psychiatric Reactions Information Link

CPT Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics

CSM Committee on Safety of Medicines

DAP Drug Analysis Print

Distribution refers to the transportation of a medicine to the site of action.

Excretion is the removal of the medicine from the body through the kidneys and liver.

FDA US Food and Drug Administration

HAI Health Action International

Metabolism is the process whereby a medicine’s structure and properties are altered,

Genetic variation may influence all of these processes, since they involve numerous different molecules produced by genes, such as transport proteins and pumps, carriers and enzymes.

Research in pharmacogenetics has traditionally focused on individual variation in the metabolism of medicines. The process of metabolism generally takes place in the liver where medicines are acted upon by enzymes.

Variation in the rate of metabolism of a medicine by an enzyme can substantially alter how a person responds to that medicine. For example, rapid metabolism of a medicine can cause it to be ineffective, and slow or non metabolism can lead to the accumulation of toxic amounts of the medicine in the body.

Variation in proteins that metabolise medicines often affects response to more than one medicine

MCA Medicines Control Agency

MHRA Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

NICE National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

PEM Prescription event monitoring

Pharmacodynamics is the study of how a medicine works in the body. Most medicines work by interacting with the control systems of the body such as receptors, carrier molecules or enzymes.  An individual’s reaction to a particular medicine is therefore affected by genetic variation in these molecules.

Historically, the development of medicines has proceeded on the presumption that these molecules are genetically homogeneous in the patient population. However, many studies in recent years have shown that this is not necessarily the case.

Pharmacokinetics is the study of the processes and rate at which a medicine passes through the body.

Pharmacology  the study of medicines and drugs, including their action, their use, and their effects on the body both pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics is the study of how a medicine acts in the body.

PRN: Pro re nata is commonly used in medicine to mean "as needed" or "as the situation arises." It is generally used as the  acronym PRN to refer to dosage of  prescribed medication that is not scheduled; instead administration is left to the  caregiver or the patient's prerogative.  PRN administration of medication is not meant to imply and should never allow for exceeding a prescribed daily regimen.

MHRA Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency