Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12036391›Full record

ReviewClinical pharmacokinetics2002

How important are gender differences in pharmacokinetics?

Bernd Meibohm, Ingrid Beierle, Hartmut Derendorf

Abstract readComparative StudyReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Clinical pharmacokinetics, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 135 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
135citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
24.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

135 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 452 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Trial
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  8. Sex related differences on valproic acid pharmacokinetics after oral single dose.Journal of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics · 2013
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  17. Biomaterials Empowering in New Era of Women's Healthcare System.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026
    Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Effect of Gender on the Pharmacokinetics of Meloxicam in Sheep.Journal of veterinary pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025
    Article

75 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Bernd MeibohmDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee 38163, USA. bmeibohm@utmem.edu
Ingrid Beierle
Hartmut Derendorf
University of Tennessee Health Science Center · USUniversity of Florida · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Gender-related differences in pharmacokinetics have frequently been considered as potentially important determinants for the clinical effectiveness of drug therapy. The mechanistic processes underlying gender-specific pharmacokinetics can be divided into molecular and physiological factors. Major molecular factors involved in drug disposition include drug transporters and drug-metabolising enzymes. Men seem to have a higher activity relative to women for the cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoenzymes CYP1A2 and potentially CYP2E1, for the drug efflux transporter P-glycoprotein, and for some isoforms of glucuronosyltransferases and sulfotransferases. Women were suggested to have a higher CYP2D6 activity. No major gender-specific differences seem to exist for CYP2C19 and CYP3A. The often-described higher hepatic clearance in women compared with men for substrates of CYP3A and P-glycoprotein, such as erythromycin and verapamil, may be explained by increased intrahepatocellular substrate availability due to lower hepatic P-glycoprotein activity in women relative to men. Physiological factors resulting in gender-related pharmacokinetic differences include the generally lower bodyweight and organ size, higher percentage of body fat, lower glomerular filtration rate and different gastric motility in women compared with men. Although gender disparity in pharmacokinetics has been identified for numerous drugs, differences are generally only subtle. For a few drugs, e.g. verapamil, beta-blockers and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, gender-related differences in pharmacokinetics have been shown to result in different pharmacological responses, but their clinical relevance remains unproven. In contrast, gender differences of clinical importance have clearly been identified for pharmacodynamic processes such as QTc prolongation, and intensive future research efforts are needed to assess the full scope and impact of pharmacodynamic gender disparity on applied pharmacotherapy.

Indexed as

PharmacokineticsSex CharacteristicsFemaleHumansMalePharmaceutical PreparationsPharmaceutical Preparations

Identifiers

PMID12036391
OpenAlexW2113011757

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.