Influence of cholestasis on drug elimination: pharmacokinetics.

A two-compartment model representing the body and the GI tract, with elimination occurring in each compartment, was used to study, in theory, the influence of impaired biliary excretion on drug disposition. The results suggest that cholestasis can either increase or decrease a drug's half-life, depending upon the relative values of the two elimination rate constants, In all cases, however, impaired biliary excretion reduced the initial elimination of drug from the body and increased the half-life of the alpha-phase of drug disposition.