What is Biodistribution

Polymeric nanoparticles have been increasingly studied and applied in a variety of areas, most commonly in biomedicine. The efficiency and toxicity are two aspects that need to be considered for nanoparticles, and both are closely related to the pharmacokinetics of nanoparticles. In this chapter, the pharmacokinetics of polymeric nanoparticles were introduced at the whole body level (including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion), organism level (transportation within organs and pass through physiological barriers), cell levels (binding to cell surface, endocytosis, intracellular transition, and exocytosis), and molecule level (protein binding and ligand-receptor binding). Examples were also given to illustrate the modeling of the pharmacokinetics of polymeric nanoparticles at different levels. A comprehensive understanding of the pharmacokinetics of polymeric nanoparticles will facilitate the applications in various areas such as drug delivery and disease diagnosis.