Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Summary
Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics integrates the principles of pharmacokinetics (how the body handles a drug) and pharmacodynamics (how a drug affects the body) to optimise patient treatment. Key processes—absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion—determine drug levels at target sites, while dose–response relationships, receptor binding and patient factors (age, comorbidities, genetics) shape efficacy and safety. Quantitative parameters such as bioavailability, clearance, volume of distribution and half-life guide personalised dosing. Therapeutic drug monitoring, pharmacogenomic profiling and prediction of drug–drug interactions all contribute to evidence-based regimens across specialties, ensuring that each individual receives the right drug, at the right dose, under the right conditions.
Research from Nature Portfolio
A 2024 Nature Communications study engineered hetero-peptide fibrils that self-assemble into β-sheet platforms displaying multiple SARS-CoV-2 spike-binding motifs. By mixing distinct peptide sequences in controlled ratios, these fibrils achieve multivalent engagement and maintain high neutralisation potency against viral variants, offering a low-cost, mutation-resilient antiviral approach.
In 2022, Scientific Reports published a k-means clustering analysis of Parkinson’s patients that combined DRD2 Taq1A genotype and gender. Three subtypes emerged, each with distinct progression trajectories and levodopa dose requirements, illustrating how pharmacogenomic stratification can inform receptor-guided dosing to reduce motor complications.
Also in 2023, Scientific Reports described a mushroom-derived sclerotial extract that, when administered orally in a chronic mouse model of allergic asthma, suppressed airway inflammation and remodelling. The extract attenuated TGF-β1 and Activin A, lowered Th2 cytokines and IgE, and improved tissue histology, highlighting a novel natural therapeutic for airway remodelling.
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in clinical pharmacology and therapeutics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Volume of distribution (Vd): The theoretical fluid volume required to account for the total drug amount at the measured plasma concentration.
Clearance (CL): The volume of plasma from which the drug is completely removed per unit time, determining maintenance dosing.
Bioavailability (F): The fraction of an administered dose reaching systemic circulation as unchanged active drug.
EC50: Drug concentration that elicits 50 % of the maximum pharmacological effect; a measure of potency.
Therapeutic window: Plasma concentration range between minimum effective and minimum toxic levels.
Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM): Measurement of drug concentrations in biological fluids to adjust dosing and maintain target levels.
References
- Antiviral fibrils of self-assembled peptides with tunable compositions. Nature Communications (2024).
- Clustering of Parkinson subtypes reveals strong influence of DRD2 polymorphism and gender. Scientific Reports (2022).
- Lignosus rhinocerotis extract ameliorates airway inflammation and remodelling via attenuation of TGF-β1 and Activin A in a prolonged induced allergic asthma model. Scientific Reports (2023).
- Association of antiseizure medications and adverse cardiovascular events: A global health federated network analysis. Epilepsia (2024).
- Pre-treatment risk predictors of valproic acid-induced dyslipidemia in pediatric patients with epilepsy. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024).
- Evaluating cardiac disorders associated with triazole antifungal agents based on the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event reporting system database. Frontiers in Pharmacology (2024).
- Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Principles.
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
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