Oral medication goes through the liver after being absorbed by the intestine. What is the name of this process?

The correct answer is first pass metabolism. This term refers to the phenomenon where oral medications are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and then transported to the liver via the portal vein before entering systemic circulation. During this time, the liver can metabolize a significant portion of the drug, which can affect its bioavailability – the amount of the drug that reaches the systemic circulation in an active form.

First pass metabolism is particularly important in pharmacology because it can greatly influence how much of a medication is ultimately available for therapeutic effect. Certain drugs can undergo considerable metabolism in the liver, reducing their effectiveness if administered orally. Understanding this process is crucial for dosing considerations and determining the appropriate routes of administration to achieve the desired therapeutic outcomes.

Other processes mentioned, such as primary metabolism and hepatic synthesis, do not specifically describe this pathway of drug metabolism after oral ingestion. Blood circulation is a broader term that encompasses the entire circulatory system and does not specifically focus on the liver's role in drug metabolism.