Drug action Flashcards
what is a drug?
a chemical substance that interacts with a biological system to cause a physiological effect
what are the four drug target sites?
1) receptors
2) ion channels
3) transport systems
4) enzymes
how are receptors defined?
usually within the cell membrane
by there agonist and antagonist actions
activated by NT or hormones
examples of an agonist and antagonist
agonist- ACh
antagonist- Atropine
what are the two types of ion channels?
voltage sensitive/gated channels e.g. VGCC
receptor linked e.g. nAChR
examples of drugs that target ion channels?
Local anaesthetics (sodium channels) calcium channel blockers
examples of transport systems that can be targeted
Na+/K+ ATPase (by cardiac glycosides e.g. digoxin)
NA re-uptake (e.g TCAs) monoamines in general
examples of drugs that target transport systems
tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs)
cardiac glycosides e.g digoxin
what are the types of drug interactions with enzymes?
enzyme inhibitors e.g. anticholinesterases
false substrates e.g. methyldopa
prodrugs e.g. choral hydrate–> trichloroethanol
give an example of a drug with non-specific action
drugs that aren’t specific to receptors like paracetamol can have unwanted effects
what is the danger with some non specific drugs?
they bind tightly to plasma proteins and therefore create a dangerous untapped reservoir of the drug e.g. warfarin
examples of non specific drugs
antacids
osmotic purgatives
what is an agonist drug?
it is stimulatory and has an effect
what is an antagonist drug?
it mimics and blocks but does not have an effect
the 2 types of agonist drugs
full agonists
partial agonists- do not produce the full response and can therefore have some antagonist activity
what does potency of a drug depend on?
potency- amount of drug needed to produce a given effect
affinity- strength of the binding between drug and receptor
efficacy- the biological effect of the drug in that it causes a conformational change in the receptor