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The term AUC refers to the total area under the drug’s plasma concentration–time curve and represents the total circulatory concentration of a drug over a period of time, often also referred to as total exposure. It is usually expressed as either AUC_0–t (from the administration of dosage to the last point of measurement in pharmacokinetic profile) or AUC_0–∞ (from the administration of dosage to an infinite time when drug concentration reaches near zero).

AUC is an important pharmacokinetic parameter which represents the extent of absorption of a drug from a dosage form and, therefore, helps in determining the bioequivalence of two dosage forms of the same drug or comparing an innovators’ product (brand) with a generic.

AUC can be estimated by geometrically calculating the area under the curve of a plasma drug concentration–time profile. This is usually done by dividing the curve into various small geometries such as trapezoids or rectangles and triangles to enable accurate measurements. This is shown in Figure 2.10. If the drug concentration is expressed as mg L⁻¹ against time in hours in a pharmacokinetic profile, then AUC is expressed as mg h L⁻¹