Definitions Flashcards
What is a drug?
A substance used in the treatment, diagnosis, prevention, or mitigation of disease
- –Endogenous: found in the body
- –Xenobiotic: not found in the body, most drugs
What is pharmacology?
A science dealing with the properties of drugs and their effects on living systems. The properties and reactions of drugs with relation to their therapeutic value
What is pharmacy?
A separate and complementary health-care profession concerned with collection, preparation, standardization, and dispensing of drugs. The art or practice of preparing, preserving, compounding, and dispensing drugs
What is clinical pharmacology?
The branch of pharmacology that deals directly with the effectiveness and safety of drugs in the clinical setting
What is dose?
The amount of drug given at one time
Most often done with weight (10 mg/kg)
What is dosage?
The amount of drug given (dose), the route of administration, the interval between doses, and the duration of therapy (5 mg/kg orally every 12 hours for 5 days)
What is potency?
A relative measurement of biological activity. The amount of drug needed to achieve a specified biological effect
Seldom of medical significance
What is efficacy?
Effectiveness. The ability of a drug to control or cure an illness
What are excipients and binders?
Inert substances added to a formulation in order to provide suitable consistency to the dosage form
What are vehicles?
A carrier of inert medium used as a solvent in which the medicinally active agent is formulated and/or administered
What is ADME?
The disposition of a drug as described by its absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion
What are pharmacokinetics?
A mathematical description of drug disposition in the body
Relates drug dose to plasma concentration
What are pharmacodynamics?
Relates drug concentration to effect
What is tolerance?
Responsiveness decreases with continued drug administration
What is tachyphylaxis?
Rapid development of tolerance
Describe the trade name of a drug versus the official name of a drug
Trade name: proprietary, proper noun, capitalized
Official name: nonproprietary, “generic” name. not capitalized
What is a type A adverse reaction?
Type A is an adverse event that can be anticipated based on the known mechanism of the drug. Usually dose dependent
What is a type B adverse reaction?
Type B is an adverse event that is idiosyncratic, unpredictable, and often nondose dependent
What is therapeutic index?
LD50/ED50
What is extra-label drug use?
The use of a drug in a species, route, dosage, or indication other than indicated on the label, such as use is only allowed by veterinarians and only according to guidelines of the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act
What is a clinical trial?
A study to establish the safety and efficacy of a drug compared to a placebo or an established treatment
What is a placebo?
A substance or treatment with no active therapeutic effect given to deceive the recipient into thinking that it is an active treatment
What is a placebo effect?
A beneficial health outcome resulting from a person’s anticipation that an intervention will help them
What is a solution?
The homogenous mixtures formed by the mixing of a solid liquid or gaseous substance with a liquid
What is a suspension?
Colloids with a liquid continuous phase and solid dispersed phase
Water insoluble drugs may be given as suspensions
What is an emulsion?
Colloids of two immiscible liquids where either phase may be either fatty or aqueous
Lipid-in-water emulsions are usually liquid, like milk or lotion
Water-in-lipid emulsions tend to be creams
What is an agonist?
A substance binding to a receptor that induces a physiologic action
What is an antagonist?
A substance binding to a receptor that blocks the action of an agonist
What is a competitive antagonist?
Do not permanently bind to a receptor. There is a constant release and reattachment
What is a noncompetitive antagonist?
a. Permanently binds to the receptor and a new receptor must be created. Rare
Describe dose-response curve
Plotted at log dose
Lower doses do not have any effect
A minimum number of receptors must be occupied before you see a physiologic effect
Once reached, a proportional increase in effect relative to dose occurs
What is a peak concentration?
The highest drug concentration in a dosing interval
What is a trough concentration?
The lowest drug concentration in a dosing interval
Always occurs immediately before the next dose
What is LD50?
The dose where it is lethal for 50% of animals
What is ED50?
The dose where it is effective for 50% of animals
What is LD1?
The dose that is lethal for 1% of animals
What is certain safety factor?
LD1/ED99
What is minimum effective concentration?
Lowest observed effect level
What is the lowest observed (adverse) effect level (LOEL/LOAEL)?
Lowest concentration that produces a desired effect
What is the maximum nontoxic dose or maximum nontoxic concentration?
The highest dose that does not produce toxicity
What is the No Observed (Adverse) Effect Level (NOEL/NOAEL)?
Highest dose that does not produce toxicity
What is a physiologic antagonist?
When drugs are antagonistic because of opposing effects at different receptors
Both are agonists
What is a partial agonist?
Partial μ effect, pure agonist blocked
What is an agonist/antagonist?
Full κ effect, pure agonist blocked
