Application of pharmacokinetic modeling to the radiation dosimetry of hepatobiliary agents

Dosimetry calculations based on biodistribution data from lower animal species often inadequately approximate the true dosimetry in humans and seldom apply in the presence of human pathology. An alternative approach is to use animal data for the limited purpose of developing a pharmacokinetic model describing the various compartments and their interconnecting pathways. To the extent that components are similarly connected in man, the model can be used to compute cumulative concentrations (μCi-h/gm) in humans by using the compartment masses and rate constants appropriate for man. In this manner dose estimates can be obtained which are less dependent upon the species from which the model was derived. The altered radiation dose in certain disease states having a known relationship to the model can also be predicted with confidence. This work reports the development in dogs of a four-compartment model which accurately describes the in-vivo distribution of Tc/sup 99m/-HIDA. The pharmacokinetic model was used to predict the kinetics of the HIDA analog which would yield clinically useful information, while minimizing patient radiation exposure