Do Blood Sampling Sites Affect Pharmacokinetics?

Abstract

Preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) profiling is the bottleneck of the drug development process. PK involves assessment of plasma/serum/blood drug concentration at different time points post drug administration. Despite the practice of blood sampling from different sites, there is no specific rule for selection of sampling site. Analytical method sensitivity, volume and number of samples, animal/human physiological status and subject compliance play a significant role in sampling site selection. Rare validation of the sampling sites often leads to erroneous estimation of PK parameters; therefore, clear-cut information on reproducibility and validity of blood sampling methods is a prerequisite. This review illustrates various commonly used blood sampling sites from different species with emphasis of its impact on the estimation of PK parameters along with justification of the factors responsible for such variations.