Statistical moments in pharmacokinetics.

Statistical moments are parameters that describe the characteristics of the time courses of plasma concentration (area, mean residence time, and variance of residence time) and of the urinary excretion rate that follow administration of a single dose of a drug. The relationship between the moments of a time-course curve and pharmacokinetic profiles of drug disposition, i.e., absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, is described. The moments are related to the extent and rate of bioavailability, and it is shown that they can be effectively applied to the deconvolution operation.