Question

Identify and explain two pharmacokinetic factors that are characteristic of/specific to MaryLou’s antidepressant medication. Discuss how her age impacts the pharmacokinetics of her medication.

Answer 1

Ans) Antidepressants can be categorized by their pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties. Of the various types of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have become the most often prescribed. Some major pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences among the SSRIs include half-life, ease of discontinuation of therapy, and the potential for involvement in metabolic drug-drug interactions.

- Antidepressants are also compared with respect to efficacy, although little difference is thought to exist in the efficacy of different SSRIs. Thus, managed care providers must consider the more subtle differences among the effects of SSRIs in order to rank-order the preferences for selecting a specific drug for a particular patient.

- The physiological changes that accompany aging raise the possibilities of altered pharmacokinetics, patterns of efficacy and adverse effect profiles.

- Antidepressant use in the elderly has not provided a clear, consistent picture of how these drugs behave in this population in comparison with younger patients. Particularly in the case of the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), a large degree of interindividual variation in drug clearance (CL) confounds attempts to find differences attributable to age.