Introduction to Pharmacology Quiz

Introduction to Pharmacology

• Pharmacology is the science of drugs, their effects on living organisms (including humans and animals), and their safety and effectiveness.
• A drug is any substance used for diagnosis, prevention, or relief/cure of diseases in humans or animals.
• A drug can be defined legally as any agent approved by the Drug Control Authority for treating or preventing diseases.
• Socially, a drug can be any substance that is disapproved or illegal and can be associated with addictive, narcotic, or mind-altering substances.
• Drugs are needed when physiology is compromised by a disease state.

Basic Definitions

• Drug nomenclature refers to the naming of drugs.
• Pharmacy is the art and science of compounding and dispensing drugs; preparing suitable dosage forms for administration.
• Pharmacodynamics is the study of what a drug does to the body.
• Pharmacokinetics is the study of what the body does to a drug.
• Toxicology examines poisonous effects of a drug with emphasis on detection and treatment of poisonings, including adverse drug effects.
• Clinical pharmacology involves the application of pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic principles to treat diseases.
• Pharmacotherapeutics is the application of pharmacological information with the knowledge of a disease for its prevention or cure. It includes selecting appropriate drug doses.
• The large-scale manufacturing of drugs is called pharmaceutics which is primarily a technological science.

Drug Sources

• Drugs can be synthetic chemicals or derived from natural sources like plants, microbes, or animal tissues, and minerals.
• Plants can yield alkaloids (morphine) and microbes can produce antibiotics (penicillin).
• Animal tissues can furnish hormones (growth hormone, insulin).
• Minerals like lithium are used in psychotherapy.

Drug Nomenclature

• Trade names are exclusive names given to drugs by the manufacturer. Examples include Panadol®, Tylenol®, Uphamol®.
• Chemical names describe the chemical composition and molecular structure of the drug. For example, N-Acetyl-p-aminophenol.
• Generic names are official names for international non-proprietary medications that are not manufacturer-specific like Paracetamol or acetaminophen.
• Generic names, rather than trade names, should be used when possible in clinical practice.

Drug Classification

• Drugs are classified according to therapeutic use, the mechanism of action, site of action and chemical structure, and pharmacokinetic sub-classification (short/long-acting).
• Common examples include antidiabetics (e.g., insulin), antihypertensives, and anticancer drugs.
• Antidiabetic drugs can involve insulin, sulphonylureas, meglitinides, Biguanides, and more, each with associated adverse effects

Antihypertensive Drug Classes

• Antihypertensive drug classes include ACE inhibitors ("pril"), ARBs ("sartan"), alpha blockers ("osin"), beta blockers ("lol"), Calcium channel blockers ("dipine"), and diuretics ("ide").
• Each class targets specific mechanisms to reduce blood pressure.

Anticancer Drugs

• Anticancer drugs have variations in modes of action. Classification includes alkylating agents, antimetabolites, plant-derived drugs, and microtubule-damaging agents. Different classes directly target different processes in cancer cells to reduce malignancy, for example, platinum coordination complexes.

Types of Drug Action

• Drug action can be classified as stimulation, depression, irritation, replacement, or cytotoxic.
• Examples of stimulation include adrenaline for cardiac arrest, and pilocarpine for dry mouth.
• Barbiturates are examples of antidepressants, and Quinidine is an example of an antiarrhythmic drug.
• Cytotoxic drugs are utilized against invading bacteria, parasites, and cancer cells. Examples include penicillins, chloroquine, Zidovudine (anti-HIV), and cyclophosphamide.

Mechanism of Drug Action

• Drugs can affect the body by altering specific biological processes such as physical action, chemical action, and interacting with target biomolecules like enzymes, ion channels, transporters, and receptors.
• Examples of physical actions include bulk laxatives, adsorbants, and mannitol.
• Examples of chemical actions include antacids and chelating agents.
• These methods change the way that drugs and the body interact to allow for changes to occur, like reducing blood pressure.

Clinical Studies

• Clinical studies evaluate drug action in humans in four stages commonly referred to as phases.
• Phase I trials usually involve small groups of healthy volunteers and evaluate safety and pharmacological properties.
• Phase II trials focus on smaller groups of patients with the disease and evaluate efficacy, and identify appropriate doses.
• Phase III trials test efficacy and safety within larger groups of patients with the disease to compare a drug to a placebo.
• Phase IV trials involve post-marketing surveillance and evaluate long-term effects and risks.
• Pharmacovigilance is a critical aspect of clinical drug development to monitor and report adverse effects of drugs after they have been launched in the market.

Pharmacology Work Types

• Experimental pharmacology involves evaluating drug action in animals to determine drug efficacy and safety before human trials. This also involves clinical pharmacology which evaluates drug actions in humans, to understand more about responses.

Where receptors are Located

• Receptors, which are proteins that receive signals from other molecules in the body, are located in several parts of the cell to enable the interaction between drugs and the body.
• These include cell membranes, cytoplasm and nucleus.

Other Relevant terms

• Drug: a substance used for diagnosis, prevention, or relief or cure of diseases.
• Medicine: a drug used for therapeutic purpose.
• Pharmacology: science of drugs, their effects, and safety/effectiveness.
• Pharmacokinetics: how the body processes a drug.
• Pharmacodynamics: the study of what a drug does to the body.
• Toxicology: study of poisonous effects of drugs.

The Thalidomide Disaster

• Thalidomide was a widely used sleeping pill.
• It caused birth defects in a large proportion of exposed fetuses.
• This disaster was instrumental for heightened caution in modern drug development, causing modern testing for teratogenicity.

Additional Information

• The presented information is a brief overview of an extensive subject; further research is highly recommended for in-depth understanding.

Test your knowledge on the fundamentals of pharmacology, including definitions, drug nomenclature, and the basic principles of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Explore how drugs interact with living organisms and the safety and effectiveness of these substances. Sharpen your understanding of both legal and social definitions of drugs.