area under the curve

curve

a line that is not straight; the line representing varying values in a graph.

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area under moment curve

plasma drug concentration × time after dosing versus time after drug administration.

area under the curve

the area under a plasma concentration versus time curve. A measure of drug absorption.

epidemic curve

a graphical representation showing the number of new cases of the disease plotted against time. A decision on when the new infection rate creates an epidemic varies with the disease and the circumstances. The rate would need to be clearly in excess of its expected frequency.

fitted curve

the theoretical frequency distribution whose closeness of fit to the subject data is under test.

freehand curve

a line drawn in by hand on a scattergram to establish the relationship between two variables.

frequency curve

a curve representing graphically the probabilities of different numbers of occurrences of an event.

logarithmic curve

the curve which demonstrates the straightline relationship between two variables when both of them are scaled as logarithms.

log dose-response curve

the standard way of presenting pharmacological data about a drug. The response is plotted against dose on a semilogarithmic graph. It has the advantage that a wide range of dose rates can be entered on the one graph.

plasma concentration-time curve

the plasma concentration of a drug plotted against time.

semilogarithmic curve

as for logarithmic curve except that only one of the variables is scaled as a logarithm. See also logarithmic relationship.

sigmoid curve

an S-shaped curve. A common curve in biological distributions.

survivorship curve

a graphic presentation of a life table. Obviously the proportion of survivors decreases with advancing age of the group.

vertebral curve

the downward curve of the thoracolumbar region and that of the cervical region in some animals.

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area under the curve

Clinical pharmacology The amount of a therapeutic agent that is present in the circulation in a determined time period, often 24 hrs. See Therapeutic drug monitoring.