Recent advances in the applications of radioisotopes in drug metabolism, toxicology and pharmacokinetics

Radioisotopes have proven to be an indispensable tool in biomedical research and have played a pivotal role in the investigation of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) properties of new chemical entities over the past several decades. The main advantage of using radioisotopes in studying the disposition of new drug candidates is the ease of detection and the achievement of high sensitivity, especially when compounds with high specific activity are used. The recent advances and applications of radioisotopes in designing and conducting ADME studies and its impact in the field of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics are discussed in this review.