Question

What are the main ways of delivering pharmaceutical agents into the body? Describe one of these routes in more detail.

Answer 1

Main routes of delivering pharmaceutical agents into the body are,LOCAL ROUTES and SYSTEMIC ROUTES.in each of these there are several ways as classified as follows,

LOCAL ROUTES-->topical routes,deeper tissues,arterial supply.

SYSTEMIC ROUTES-->oral,sublingual/buccal, rectal,cutaneous, inhalation, masal,parental.

In this the question is asked to explain any one of these, so i will explain local routes of administration of drugs in detail.

LOCAL ROUTES

This route is only used for localized lesions at reachable sites and for the drugs whose systemic absorption from these sites are minimal or absent. Through this high concentration of the drug is attained at designated sit without exposing rest of body.systemic side effects/toxicity is less.ghere are 4 ways of local administration of drugs,

1.topical -->it indicates external application of the drug to the surface for localized action. In this drugs can be effectively delivered to localized lesions in skin,eyes,anal canal,nasl/oropharyngeal mucosa, ear canal, vagina.as lotion,cream,powder, rinse,spray,lozenges, suppositories, etc.other example of topical medications are,irritating solutions or jellies(lidocaine, povidone iodine) applied to urethra,nonabsorbable drugs given orally for action on gastrointestinal mucosa (vancomycin, sucralfate),inhalation of drugs for action on bronchi(salbutamol),etc.

2.Deeper tissues-->here deep tissues are reached with the help of syringes/needles. But the administered drug should be in a form of which systemic absorption is low.examples of this route of administration of drugs are, retrobulbar injections (hydrocortisone acetate behind eyeball),intra articular injection (hydrocortisone acetate in knee joint),infiltration around a nerve or intathecal injection (lidocaine).

3.arterial supply-->example of this mode of administration is close intra-arterial injection usexfor contrast media in angiography,infusion of anticancer drugs in femoral or brachial arteries to localize the effect for limb malignancies.

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