Basic Principles of Pharmacology Flashcards
Exam 1
Differentiate the following: Pharmacodynamics, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacogenomics, & Toxicology
-Pharmacodynamics: Describes what the drug does to the body.
-Pharmacokinetics: Describes what the body does to the drug; absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion
-Pharmacogenomics: Looking at a genetic profile to determine how effective a drug will be
-Toxicology: Specifically relates to poison, toxins, and how they relate to the body
Agonistic vs Antagonist
Agonistic: Elicits a response from a receptor when it binds to the receptor
-Effect may be lesser or greater than the native ligand (endogenous hormone or catecholymine)
Antagonistic: Blocks the endogenous/native ligand from binding to the receptor
-Does not activate a response
Allosteric vs Orthosteric
Specific Binding vs Non Specific Binding
Allosteric: Binds anywhere but the active site on the receptor
-Is a non competitive inhibitor because it does compete for the active site
Orthosteric: Binds directly to active site on the receptor
Specific Binding: Binds specifically to the receptor. There is a max dose because receptors are not infinite
Non-specific Binding: The more drug that is given, the more non-specific the binding becomes. The drug saturates the receptors and must bind somewhere else.
Ex: Albumin
Describe the difference between toxins and poisons
Poison: A nonbiological substance such as arsenic, cadmium, lead
Toxins: A biological substance such as toxic mushrooms, a puffer fish
Describe the Relative Bond Strengths
Covalent Bond: Share electrons. Strongest bond, but least specificity. Irreversible
Electrostatic: Ionic Bonds;
-Charged molecules
- Hydrogen bonds
- Van der waals forces
Hydrophobic, lipid soluble drugs: Weakest bond, highest specificity
Bond strength and specificity are inversely related
Racemic Mixtures, Stereoisomerism, Isomers
-Isomers of a drug have the same chemical equation, but different shape.
-Stereoisomerism (Optical Isomers) is when isomers are mirror images of each other, but do not behave the same way. This applies to more than half of all drugs
-Racemic Mixtures are optical isomers
Ex: (R) Ketamine- More toxic than (S) Ketamine, increased unwanted side effects
(S) Ketamine: 4x more potent, less unwanted side effects
Competitive & Allosteric Inhibitors
Competitive Inhibitor: Binds to the active site in place of agonist. If a high enough dose of the agonist is given, it can “out-compete” the competitive inhibitor
Allosteric Inhibitors: Bind somewhere other than the active site on the receptor, so they are not competitive. Agonist response is always muted when given with an Allosteric inhibitor
Active Receptors vs Inactive Receptors
Receptors live in equilibrium between the active and inactive state. These configurations can switch back and forth between active and inactive without a drug/endogenous ligand present. When a drug favors the active form of a receptor, a downstream response will be elicited
Other Mechanisms of Antagonism: Physiologic Antagonism
Two or more physiologic processes that have an opposite effect
Ex: SNS vs PNS; epinephrine secreted acts on the B1 receptors, increases heart rate. Acetylcholine acting on the muscarinic receptors decreases heart rate
Pharmacodynamics: What happens when an Agonist is given with a single dose of 1) Allosteric Agonist, 2) Competitive Inhibitor, or 3) Allosteric Inhibitor?
-Agonist + Allosteric Agonist/Activator: We will see an increased/maximal drug response here compared to giving an agonist alone
-Agonist + Competitive Inhibitor: We can initially have a muted response; however, giving more of the agonist will allow it to out-compete the competitive inhibitor and we will have an increased response
-Agonist + Allosteric Inhibitor: We will have a muted response here. There is no way to out-compete the Allosteric inhibitor because they do not bind to the same area on the receptor
Agonist Mimic, Indirect Agonist
Agonist mimics or Indirect Agonists are downstream inhibitors. You have a receptor activated that causes a cascade of effects: A—> B—>C. Let’s say there is an enzyme that is supposed to break down “C”. You give the agonist mimic and it breaks down that enzyme, increasing your amounts of “C”
Receptor- Antagonist Interactions; Competitive Inhibitors & Non-Competitive Inhibitors, insurmountable vs surmountable
Competitive inhibitors/antagonists: They are SURMOUNTABLE because you can continue to give increasing doses of the antagonist to overcome the competitive inhibitor as long as they do not form covalent bonds
Competitive Orthosteric inhibitors/antagonists: Compete for the active site, but if they form covalent, irreversible bonds, it makes make them INSURMOUNTABLE
Non-competitive Allosteric inhibitors/antagonists: They are INSURMOUNTABLE because they are not directly competing for the same site. These are irreversible
Partial Agonist, Inverse Agonist vs. Full Agonist
- A partial agonist, when given alone, will always have a muted/lessened response
-When given with full agonist; acts as antagonist
-Inverse Agonist: Favors the receptor in its inactive form. It lowers the receptors’ activity below its constituitive activity, causing it to be less active with the drug present than without. Clinically, these act as antagonists but stronger
-A full agonist elicits a full downstream response once given
Other Mechanisms of Antagonism: Administration of opposite charge
Ex: Protamine (+) binds to and inhibits the effect of Heparin (-)
Potency; Dose-Response Curve
-Potency directly correlates to affinity; as drug potency increases, drug affinity for that receptor increases
-EC50 represents when a drug is 50% effective. The EC50 and potency are inversely related.
-As potency decreases, the EC50 increases and shifts to the RIGHT
-As potency increases, the EC50 decreases and shifts to the LEFT
-If graph is shifting horizontally, we are seeing a change in POTENCY
-Drugs can have different potency, but efficacy can be the same
