Key Concepts in Pharmacology

Key Concepts in Pharmacology

• Absorption: Process of a drug entering the circulatory system (blood).
• Intravenous (IV) and Intra-Arterial Administration: Drug administration routes that bypass the absorption step.
• ADME (Pharmacokinetic Process): The overarching process encompassing Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Elimination of a drug.
• Addiction: Drug dependence characterized by the need to take a drug for psychological and physical effects.
• Affinity: Natural attraction representing the strength of a chemical messenger binding to its receptor site.
• Agonist: Drug mimicking a neurotransmitter's action at a receptor site.
• Allergen: Harmless substance triggering an abnormal, hypersensitive reaction.
• Allergic Response: Abnormal reaction to a harmless substance, often involving the immune system.
• Anaphylactic Reaction: Severe, life-threatening allergic response, including respiratory distress and shock.
• Angioedema: Abnormal fluid accumulation in tissues.
• Antagonist: Drug opposing the action of another substance or neurotransmitter at a receptor site.
• Antigen: Foreign substance triggering an immune response and antibody production.
• Bioavailability: Proportion of a drug available to the target site after administration.
• Blood-Brain Barrier: Protective barrier preventing many substances from entering the cerebrospinal fluid.
• Ceiling Effect: Point where increasing drug dosage yields no further response.
• Clearance: Rate of drug elimination from a specific blood volume per time unit.
• Contraindication: Medical condition where a drug is harmful or not beneficial.
• Dependence: Physiological and psychological adaptation to a drug, requiring the drug to function.
• Distribution: Drug movement from blood to body tissues and fluids, ultimately to the site of action.
• Dose: Quantity of a drug administered at one time.
• Drug Abuse: Non-prescribed or excessive drug use, often linked to addiction.
• Drug Interaction: Effects of one drug altering another drug, food, or substance.
• Drug Interaction (Addition): Combined drug effect equals the sum of individual drug effects.
• Drug Interaction (Antagonism): One drug counteracts the effect of another.
• Drug Interaction (Potentiation): One drug enhances another's effect, making the combined effect greater than the sum.
• Drug Interaction (Synergism): Combined drug effect is greater and more intense than the individual effects.
• Enzymes, Nucleic Acids, Receptors, Transport Proteins: Specific body molecules influenced by drugs.
• Duration of Action: Time a drug's desired effect is present.
• Elimination: Removal of drugs and their metabolites from the body.
• First-Order Elimination: Drug elimination rate is dependent on drug concentration.
• First-Pass Effect: Drug metabolism by the liver before systemic circulation, potentially reducing bioavailability.
• Half-Life: Time to eliminate half of a drug from the body.
• Homeostasis: Maintenance of internal body stability.
• Induction: Drug increasing the concentration of enzymes affecting other drug responses.
• Inhibition: Drug blocking enzyme activity, potentially impairing the metabolism of another drug.
• Interaction: Change in drug action caused by another substance.
• Lipid: Fatty molecule crucial for cell membranes, generally water-repellent; important for drug absorption & distribution.
• Local Effect: Drug action limited to a specific body part.
• Loading Dose: Initial dose to rapidly bring drug concentration to a therapeutic level.
• Maintenance Dose: Regular dose to keep drug concentration at a therapeutic level.
• Metabolic Pathway: Series of chemical steps converting a drug into a metabolite.
• Metabolism: Chemical conversion of drugs into other compounds in the body.
• Metabolite: Substance produced by the body's chemical conversion of a drug.
• Peak: Highest drug concentration in the blood.
• Pharmacokinetic Modeling: Mathematical description of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.
• Pharmacokinetics: Drug activity within the body over time.
• Prophylaxis: Drug's disease-preventing effect.
• Pruritus: Itching sensation.
• Receptor: Protein on or within a cell recognizing specific molecules, triggering cellular effects.
• Receptor Characteristics: Receptors are protein molecules, varying across cell types, located on or inside cells, requiring complementary structure to bind messengers, playing vital roles in many body functions, including clotting, muscle contraction & protection against injury or infection and being highly specific.
• Side Effect: Unintended response to a drug, distinct from its primary therapeutic action.
• Solubility: Drug's ability to dissolve in body fluids.
• Specificity: Receptor binding property allowing interaction only with specific substances.
• Systemic Effect: Generalized drug effect on the entire body.
• Therapeutic Effect: Desired drug action treating a specific condition.
• Therapeutic Level: Drug concentration yielding beneficial effects, often achieved using loading doses.
• Therapeutic Range: Drug dosage range offering optimal efficacy and safety.
• Tolerance: Reduced response to a drug's effects with continued use.
• Trough: Lowest drug concentration in the blood.
• Urticaria: Hives; itching skin rash.
• Volume of Distribution: Relationship between drug amount administered and resulting blood concentration.
• Wheals: Elevated, red areas on the skin.
• Zero-Order Elimination: Drug elimination rate independent of drug concentration.