Drug Therapy Flashcards
Glyceryl nitrate (GTN) is administered by the sublingual route to avoid?
First pass metabolism.
A drug trial in which neither patient nor doctor is aware what treatment the patient is taking is called a?
Double trial
A drug trial which data is collected from case records after treatment is given is called a?
Retrospective trial.
A drug trial in which patients take both treatments being tested one after the other is called a?
Cross-over trial.
a drug trial in which patients are allowed to treatment groups using random number generation is called a?
Randomised trial.
What are the physiological barriers that affect the transfer of drugs across the cell membrane.
- Passive diffusion
- Filtration
- Bulk flow
- Active transport
- Facilitated diffusion
- Ion pair transport
- Endocytosis
What factors affect bioavailability?
Particle size, lipid solubility, pH and ionisation
Discuss lipid solubility.
Drugs must be lipid soluble to cross the membrane.
Give an example of a non-lipid soluble drug.
Gentamicin
Discuss ionisation and drug absorption.
Most drugs don’t completely ionise in water as most drugs are weak acids or bases and therefore depends on pH.
Do ionised drugs cross the lipid membrane?
No
What equation represents pH and degree of ionisation relationship.
Henderson-Hasslebach equation.
Discuss the factors that affect absorption of a drug from the GI tract.
- Motility (speed of gastric absorption will affect speed at which drug reaches site of absorption, can be affected by other drugs)
- Food (can enhance or impair rate of absorption)
- Illness
Define bioavailability.
Amount of drug which reaches circulation and is available for action.
Give examples of illnesses which affect drug absorption.
- Malabsorption e.g coeliac disease can increase or decrease rate of absorption.
- Migraine reduces rate of stomach emptying and therefore absorption of analgesic drugs.
Why are paediatric patients a high risk group?
Absorption different due to different GI pH changes, gastric emptying and enzymes, bile acids and biliary function, GI flora, food /formula etc.
Define first pass metabolism.
Concentration of drug reduced before it reaches the circulation.
What are the causes of first pass metabolism?
Gut lumen (acid, enzymes) and gut wall (metabolic enzymes)
What is the clinical importance of first pass metabolism?
Can be a limit on oral route of some drugs.
What administration routes avoid first pass metabolism?
Subcutaneous/intra-muscular, sublingual/buccal, rectal and transdermal.
What two factors should be considered when deciding route of administration?
- Local absorption
2. First pass metabolism
What are the benefits of IV administration?
Rapid onset of action, careful control of plasma levels, short half-life, can be given rapidly or continuous infusion.
What are the benefits of topical administration?
Least invasive, decreased risk of side-effects, rapid, localised treatment.
What are the benefits of inhaled medications?
Better for volatile agents, can be metabolised in lungs, relatively rapid effect, small dose used, reduced adverse events
What factors determine bioavailability?
Formulation, ability to pass physiological barriers, GI effects, first pass metabolism, route of administration.
What route of administration has 100% availability?
Intravenous
What factors determine drug distribution?
- Chemical properties (lipid solubility and ionisation) determine of drug reaches volume of distribution.
- Protein binding (more than 90% bound) - only unbound drugs are biologically active.
Discuss protein binding and give an example of proteins.
E.g albumin or alpha1-glycoprotein e.g phenytoin
What is the result of increased volume of distribution?
Increases ability of drug to diffuse.
How is binding reversed?
Renal function, hypoalbuminaemia, pregnancy, other drugs, satiability of binding.
What is the result of increased half-life with regard to drug distribution?
Increased accumulation of drug with increased toxicity.
Define the half-life of a drug.
Time take for drug concentration in blood to decline to half of the current volume.
Discuss the relevance of three mechanism of renal disease states to drug excretion.
- Glomerular filtration
- Passive tubular reabsorption
- Active tubular secretion
Describe glomerular filtration.
Most important - as EGFR decreases, toxicity increases due to accumulation ad decreased excretion.
Where are all unbound drugs filtered?
- At the glomerulus (as long as charge, molecular size and shape are not excessively large)
- Factors affecting glomerular filtrate decrease drug clearance
Discuss passive tubular reabsorption.
- As filtrate moves down renal tube, any drug present is concentrated.
- Passive diffusion allows drug to move back through the tubule and into the circulation.
- Occurs in distal tubule and collecting duct
What can passive tubular reabsorption be affected by?
Renal failure.
Define active tubular secretion.
- Some drugs actively secreted into proximal tubule (acidic and basic compounds)
What is the most important system for eliminating protein bound cationic and anionic drugs?
Active tubular secretion.
Define metabolism.
An essential pharmacokinetic process which limits the life of a substance by rendering lipid-soluble and non-polar compounds to water soluble and polar compounds for excretion.
What are the important sites of metabolism?
Liver, gut lining, kidneys and lungs.
Define prodrugs and give an example.
Activated following metabolism e.g simvastatin.
What are the two phases of metabolism?
- Phase I metabolism - increase polarity, cytochrome P450 enzymes)
- Phase II metabolism - increase water solubility and enhances excretion, conjugation
Define pharmacogenetics.
- Drug metabolising enzymes expressed in multiple forms.
- gene mutations and genetic polymorphisms
- Decreased enzyme activity increase drug toxicity.
What factors affect bioavailability?
- Metabolism
- Age
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Foods
- Illness etc
How does age affect drug metabolising enzymes?
- Enzymes deficient in fetes or premature infant.
- 2yo metabolises more rapidly than adults.
How does gender affect drug metabolism?
- Difference in ADME
- Pregnancy induces certain enzymes in 2nd and 3rd trimesters
How does ethnicity differences affect drug metabolism?
Difference in genetic expression of cytochrome P450 isoforms.
Describe ADME.
Absorption
Distribution
Metabolism
Excretion
What is ADME important for?
- Determing how to get drug to site of action
- Determining dose and frequency
- Making sure drug is present in effective dose
- Predicting and avoiding toxicity
Describe the different types of oral medications.
- Solutions and suspensions
- Tablets and capsules
- Enteric coated tablets
- Prolonged and delayed release formulations