Challenges in Ocular Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Toxicology

Study of ocular pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, and toxicology is challenging due to the inherent ocular barriers to drug penetration, small ocular tissue sizes and volumes, and sensitive ocular structures. Additionally, wide variation of ocular sizes and physiology among animal models complicates simple translation of results from one species of animal to another. This chapter, and those to follow, will describe the challenges researchers face regarding ocular pharmacology and toxicology as well as providing them with practical methodologies for conducting studies, including study design and specialized methodology, to overcome these challenges and thus improve treatment of ocular disease.