1. Introductory Pharmacology Flashcards
Define drug
Any chemical which affects physiological function in a specific way
What is meant by pharmacology?
The study of the way in which the function of living things is altered by chemical agents
What is meant by toxicology?
The study of toxic or harmful effects of chemicals, their mechanisms and conditions of occurence
Define therapeutics
The branch of medicine concerned with the use of drugs to treat a disease or its symptoms
What are the sources of drugs?
Individual chemical purified from cells and tissues - traditionally plants less often animals
Chemical synthesis by pharmaceutical industry
Large scale production of recombinant human proteins
How do drugs work?
Administered into human body
May act locally or else need to enter bloodstream to travel to intended site of action
Finds and interacts with a spcecific molecular target in order to produce an effect
What is the molecular basis of drug selectivity?
Ideal drugs only interact with specific molecular target in a particular tissue to cause desired therapeutic effect in that tissue
What are different types of targets for drug action?
Ion channels Membrane transporter proteins Enzymes Non-cellular proteins Receptors Nucleic acids
What do allosteric modulators do?
Cause a shape change in channel protein on binding elsewhere on the protein
What does an ion channel inhibitor?
Less ions can enter which decreases the response
What does an ion facilitator do?
More ions can enter which increases the response
What do membrane transporter proteins act as?
Inhibitors
False substrates
What does an inhibitor do?
Block transport mechanism
What is false substrate and what does it do?
Accumulation of unatural compound
Competes with and prevents movement of natural substrate
How do enzymes act as drug targets?
Inhibitors
Pro-drugs
