COLLEGE OF PHARMACY

3/F St. Therese Bldg.

900 San Marcelino St.
1000 Ermita, Manila
Tel. No.: (02) 521-2621
(02) 524-2011 local 390

Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics

MIDTERM EXAMINATION

General Instructions: Use blue or black ink only. STRICTLY NO ERASURES of any sort. You may use you test
questionnaire as your scratch. CHEATING OF ANY FORMS is strictly PROHIBITED. If you have concerns, do
not talk to your classmates. Ask the instructor/proctor. Anyone caught cheating will automatically get a
score of zero (0) in the exam.

1. The rate of drug transport across a cell a. 1:100

membrane by lipid diffusion depends on b. 1:10
all of the following EXCEPT: c. 10:1
a. Drug size (diffusion constant) d. 100:1
b. Surface area of absorption 9. A characteristic of drugs eliminated by
c. Lipid partition coefficient zero order kinetics processes is that half-
d. Density of transporters life is not constant.
e. Concentration gradient a. True
2. A characteristic of absorption by lipid b. False
diffusion is its saturability at high drug 10. The plasma drug concentration versus
concentrations. time curve for a drug eliminated by zero
a. True order kinetics is linear.
b. False a. True
3. Drugs with low oil: water partition b. False
coefficients undergo lipid diffusion more 11. Drug metabolism is the process that
rapidly than drugs with high oil:water converts chemicals into less polar
partition coefficients. metabolites so that they are more
a. True difficult to excrete.
b. False a. True
4. The following IV administration, drugs b. False
are distributed fastest to: 12. All of the following are examples of
a. The skin, kidney, and brain Phase I drug metabolizing reactions
b. The liver, kidney, and brain EXCEPT:
c. The liver, adipose, and brain a. N-dealkylation of theophylline
d. The liver, kidney, and adipose b. Aliphatic oxidation of
e. The adipose, skin, and brain pentobarbital
5. A fundamental characteristic of all first c. Hydrolysis of succinylcholine
order pharmacokinetic process is that d. Glucuronidation of
the rate of the process is proportional to acetaminophen
drug concentration: e. Reductive dehalogenation of
a. True halothane
b. False 13. The termination of action of the
6. Competition between two drugs for preanesthetic muscle relaxant,
binding to plasma protein(s) can result in succinylcholine is markedly affected by:
the change in the concentration of free a. Redistribution from the brain to
drug and potential drug toxicity. the adipose tissue
a. True b. Enzyme induction
b. False c. Enzyme inhibition
7. At pH 9.0, morphine (a weak base d. Pharmacogenetic factors
containing an ionizable amine group, 14. For a drug that is eliminated primarily by
pKa of 7.0) would exist predominantly in renal glomerular filtration, the
the charged form. theoretical maximum clearance is
a. True approximately:
b. False a. 1-2 mL/min
8. At pH 5.0, the ratio of the protonated to b. 12 mL/min
unprotonated forms of morphine (a c. 120 mL/min
weak base containing an ionizable amine d. 1250 mL/min
group, pKa=7.0) would be:

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15. The volume of distribution of
gentamicin, a highly polar water-soluble
drug, is 14L per 70 kg. This reflects the
distribution of gentamicin into:
a. Plasma
b. Plasma and blood
c. Plasma, blood, and interstitial
fluid (extracellular water)
d. Total body water
e. Adipose tissue
16. First order kinetics
a. Means rate of reaction is
proportional to concentration
b. Are more common than zero
order kinetics
c. Apply to exponential processes
d. Generally apply to high plasma
concentrations (>20mg/100ml)
of ethanol
e. Result in steady state
concentrations after multiple
dosing
17. . Pharmacokinetics is:
a. The study of biological and
therapeutic effects of drugs
b. The study of absorption,
distribution, metabolism and
excretion of drugs
c. The study of mechanisms of
drug action
d. The study of methods of new
drug development
18. What kind of substances cant permeate
membranes by passive diffusion?
a. Lipid-soluble
b. Non-ionized substances
c. Hydrophobic substances
d. Hydrophilic substances
19. What does the term bioavailability
mean?
a. Plasma protein binding degree
of substance
b. Permeability through the brain-
blood barrier
c. Fraction of an uncharged drug
reaching the systemic
circulation following any route
administration
d. Amount of a substance in urine
relative to the initial doze
COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
3/F St. Therese Bldg.
900 San Marcelino St.
1000 Ermita, Manila
Tel. No.: (02) 521-2621
(02) 524-2011 local 390
20. Which route of drug administration is
most likely to lead to the first-pass
effect?
a. Sublingual
b. Oral
c. Intravenous
d. Intramuscular
21. Parenteral administration:
a. Cannot be used with
unconsciousness patients
b. Generally results in a less
accurate dosage than oral
administration
c. Usually produces a more rapid
response than oral
administration
d. Is too slow for emergency use
22. The volume of distribution (Vd) relates:
a. Single to a daily dose of an
administrated drug
b. An administrated dose to a body
weight
c. An uncharged drug reaching the
systemic circulation
d. The amount of a drug in the
body to the concentration of a
drug in plasma
23. Biotransformation of the drugs is to
render them:
a. Less ionized
b. More pharmacologically active
c. More lipid soluble
d. Less lipid soluble
24. Metabolic transformation (phase 1) is:
a. Acetylation and methylation of
substances
b. Transformation of substances
due to oxidation, reduction or
hydrolysis
c. Glucuronide formation
d. Binding to plasma proteins
25. Biotransformation of a medicinal
substance results in:
a. Faster urinary excretion
b. Slower urinary excretion
c. Easier distribution in organism
d. Higher binding to membranes
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 COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
3/F St. Therese Bldg.
900 San Marcelino St.
1000 Ermita, Manila
Tel. No.: (02) 521-2621
(02) 524-2011 local 390

Part II. Problem Solving. Write all the necessary computations. Round-off your answers to 4 decimal
places. BOX YOUR FINAL ANSWER. (5 points each)
1. If the half-life for decomposition of a drug is 12 hours, how long will it take for 125 mg of the drug
to decompose by 30%? Assume first-order kinetics and constant temperature.
2. A solution of a drug was freshly prepared at a concentration of 300 mg/ml. after 30 days at 25C,
the drug concentration in the solution was 75mg/ml.
a. Assuming first-order kinetics, when will the drug decline to one-half of the original
concentration?
b. Assuming zero-order kinetics, when will the drug decline to one-half of the original
concentration?
3. How many half-lives (t1/2) would it take for 99.9% of any initial concentration of a drug to
decompose? Assume first-order kinetics.
4. Exactly 300 mg of a drug are dissolve into an unknown volume of distilled water. After complete
dissolution of the drug, 1.0-ml samples were removed and assayed for the drug. The following
results were obtained:
Time (hr) Concentration (mg/ml)
0.5 0.45
2.0 0.3
Assuming zero-order decomposition of the drug, what was the original volume in which the drug
was dissolved?
5. The following data were obtained after assay of a drug:
Time (min) Drug A(mg)
10 96.0
20 89.0
40 73.0
60 57.0
90 34.0
120 10.0
130 2.5
Compute for the following:
a. Does the decrease in the amount of drug A appear to be a zero-order or first-order
reaction?
b. What is the rate constant k?
c. What is the half-life t1/2?
d. What will be the concentration of Drug A after 50mins?
e. How much time will it take for Drug A to eliminate 99.9% of its concentration?

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 COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
3/F St. Therese Bldg.
900 San Marcelino St.
1000 Ermita, Manila
Tel. No.: (02) 521-2621
(02) 524-2011 local 390

EXAMINATION ANSWER SHEET

Part II. Problem Solving.

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