... consideration in topical ocular drug delivery. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol., 27:5 58. 8. Schoenwald, R. D. (1993). Ocular pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, Ophthalmic Drug Delivery Systems (A. K. Mitra, ... Ocularpharmacokineticsincludesthefeaturesofabsorption,distribu-tion,andexcretionfoundwithsystemicadministrationbutappliedtotheeye.However,owingtotheuniqueanatomyandphysiologyoftheeyeandsurroundingtissue,ocularpharmacokineticsisconsiderablymoredifficulttodescribeandpredictthanitssystemiccounterpart.Thetaskisfurthercomplicatedbythevariousformulations,routes,anddosingregimenstypi-callyencounteredinophthalmology.Pharmacodynamicsisthemeasurementofpharmacologicalresponserelativetodoseorconcentration.Thepharmacologicalresponseinducedbyadrugcanvarygreatlyfromindividualtoindividualduetodifferencesinfactorssuchaseyepigmentation,thepathologicalstateoftheeye,tearing,orblinkrate.Theapplicationofpharmacologicalendpointsisparticularlyusefulinthestudyofdrugsinthehumaneye,wheretheabilitytodeterminetheocularpharmacokineticsbasedonoculartissueconcentrationsisseverelylimited.Thischapterdiscussestheocularpharmacokineticsassociatedwithtopicalocular,intravitreal,periocular,andsystemicadministration.Inaddi-tion,thepharmacodynamicsrelatedtoophthalmicdrugsandtheroleofoculardrugmetabolismarereviewed.II.OCULARPHARMACOKINETICSApplicationofclassicalpharmacokineticstoophthalmicdrugsisprob-lematicbecauseofthecomplexitiesassociatedwitheyeanatomyandphy-siology.Asaresult,mostoftheliteratureislimitedtomeasuringconcentrationsinoculartissuesovertimefollowingsingleormultipleadministration.Thisapproach,whileinformative,doesnoteasilyyieldquantitativepredictionsforchangesinformulationordosageregimen.Compoundingtheproblemisthefactthatmoststudieshavebeenconductedinrabbiteyes,whichdiffersignificantlyfromhumaneyesinanatomyandphysiology(seeTable1).themostobviousdifferencesareinblink ... vitreous, and/or choroid-retina (8) . However, with certain topical ocu-lar drugs, such as clonidine, timolol, dapiprazole, oxymetazoline, and ketor-olac tromethamine, iris-ciliary body concentrations...