What is the lipid-water partition coefficient?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for a definition or explanation of the lipid-water partition coefficient, including its implications and what it indicates about substances in relation to water.
Answer
The lipid-water partition coefficient denotes the ratio of drug concentration between lipids and water.
The lipid-water partition coefficient is the ratio of the concentration of a drug or compound in two immiscible or slightly miscible phases, specifically one lipid phase and one aqueous phase, at equilibrium.
Answer for screen readers
The lipid-water partition coefficient is the ratio of the concentration of a drug or compound in two immiscible or slightly miscible phases, specifically one lipid phase and one aqueous phase, at equilibrium.
More Information
The lipid-water partition coefficient is important in pharmaceutical sciences because it helps determine how a drug will distribute in biological systems, influencing absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
Tips
A common mistake is confusing the lipid-water partition coefficient with solubility, but they measure different properties: solubility is how much solute dissolves in a solvent, while the partition coefficient determines the distribution between two phases.
Sources
- Chapter 8. Lipid/Water Partition Coefficient - PharmacyLibrary - pharmacylibrary.com
- Partition Coefficient - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics - sciencedirect.com
- Partition coefficient - Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org
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