Zeitschrift für Anästhesiologie und Schmerzforschung

Following absorption, drugs circulate throughout the body in part to reach target tissues and in part to be eliminated from regions where they have no clinically significant impact. Therapeutically relevant drug effects typically come to an end with drug metabolism and/or elimination. The generally thought to play a minor part in these essential pharmacokinetic processes was the spleen. Although this organ is anticipated to be extensively exposed to massive, new generation medications that cannot permeate other tissues with tight endothelial barriers due to its high blood flow and microcirculation properties.

The spleen receives very little attention in textbooks on pharmacology, and among its physiological functions—such as immunological monitoring, the elimination of old blood cells, hematopoiesis, and blood volume regulation—neither drug disposition nor involvement in pharmacological drug action are ever mentioned. Pharmacology paid little attention to the spleen because there was no proof that it might have a big impact on how "traditional" medicines were disposed of. The creation of "new-generation" medications is, however, altering our perception of the interaction between pharmaceuticals and the spleen, much like when a new character enters a novel and our perspective on the plot drastically changes.