LC 6

Route-of-administration selection in mammals is a pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, formulation, animal-welfare, and translational decision, not a default technical choice. The selected route should match the study goal: intravenous dosing is most useful when complete systemic exposure and rapid onset are required, oral dosing is most translational for orally intended medicines but is affected by absorption and first-pass metabolism, subcutaneous or intramuscular dosing can provide slower systemic exposure, and intraperitoneal dosing can be useful in rodent proof-of-concept studies but may have limited clinical translation. Published route-comparison studies show that the same compound can produce different exposure, onset, bioavailability, tissue distribution, and tolerability depending on route; therefore, route choice should be supported by pilot pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic evidence when the literature is insufficient. Unresolved questions include how to standardize route sel