ModelPK

ModelPK is a package designed to extract basic information about the pharmacokinetic profile of a drug from experimental data.

Target users: for bench scientists who have little experience with PK modeling

Background

What is PK?

Pharmacokinetics (PK) is the study of how a drug moves through the body. More specifically, it examines:

• Absorption: How does a drug get into the body?
• Distribution: Where does the drug go? For example, does it remain in the bloodstream, or does it partition into certain tissues?
• Metabolism: Does it get broken down by the body?
• Excretion: How does it leave the body? At any given point, the concentration of a drug in the body will be impacted by its absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.

Why does it matter?

PK is crucial to understanding the safety and efficacy of a drug. Every drug has a concentration above which it can have serious side effects or be toxic to patients. Likewise, every drug has a concentration below which it no longer has a therapeutic effect. As such, every drug has a therapeutic window in which it actually has a therapeutic effect for patients. Understanding PK profile of a drug allows clinicians and physicians to understand how to keep drug concentrations within this therapeutic window.

Installation and Use

Installation

To install ModelPK run the following command:

!pip install ModelPK

This should also install any required dependencies listed in the requirements.txt file.

Use

1. The dependencies below are required for ModelPK:
   • numpy
   • pandas
   • sci-kitlearn
   • tellurium

All required dependencies should be included when ModelPK or any of its modules is imported.

2. Import ModelPK as entire package:

   import ModelPK

   OR import each module separately:

   from ModelPK import extractPKparam as extract from ModelPK import simulatePK as sim

3. See "examples" folder for sample code.

Author’s note:

This package is currently only supports a 1 compartment model for a drug administered as an IV bolus. In other words, the drug must: i) have been administered intravenously as a single, large dose AND ii) remain in the bloodstream and do not partition into other tissues.

Future work will expand the number of PK models supported.