Clinical Pharmacokinetics In Optimizing Drug Dosing For Special Populations: A Practical Review Study

Abstract

Clinical pharmacokinetics had played an essential role in optimizing drug dosing for special populations, ensuring both safety and efficacy. This review examined how physiological, pathological, and genetic variations affected pharmacokinetic parameters such as absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion across groups including pediatric, geriatric, pregnant, obese, and critically ill patients. Integrating pharmacokinetic principles into clinical practice had facilitated individualized dosing strategies, minimized toxicity, and enhanced therapeutic outcomes. Recent advancements in modeling and simulation, particularly physiologically based pharmacokinetic [PBPK] modeling and population pharmacokinetics, had improved clinicians’ ability to predict drug behavior in complex physiological conditions. The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence [AI] and Machine Learning [ML] further enhanced dosing precision, allowing adaptive and data-driven drug monitoring. However, despite these advances, the application of pharmacokinetics in special populations faced challenges such as limited clinical data, interindividual variability, and the ethical use of patient-specific data. Future research should focus on expanding clinical datasets, refining predictive algorithms, and establishing unified dosing frameworks tailored to unique patient groups. When effectively implemented, clinical pharmacokinetics could transform drug therapy from generalized prescribing to precision medicine, ensuring that dosing decisions were evidence-based, individualized, and equitable across all populations.