edu: Drug Receptors, Pharmacodynamics and Drug disposition Flashcards
Mechanisms of Drug Action
- Chemical interactions with other molecules due to a drug’s acidic or basic properties (antacids in
hyperacidity; protamine sulfate in heparin overdose) - Ability to act as a membrane surfactant (amphotericin B)
- Ability to denature proteins (astringents)
- Binding to specific receptor site
What is a receptor?
Receptor - macromolecule or a component of a cell or organism that interacts with a drug and initiates the
chain of biochemical events leading to the drug’s observed effects.
What are the Properties of Receptors
- Ability to bind to drugs (or ligands) with relatively high affinity
- Ability to transduce a signal to produce a biological effect
What are your Receptor Subtypes:
- Enzymes – allopurinol receptor (mediated by xanthine oxidase)
- Ion channels – nifedipine, verapamil, diltiazem receptors
- Membrane receptors – alpha and beta adrenergic receptors
The interaction of a receptor and its ligand (the molecule to which it attaches to) is described to be in a
“lock and key” fashion which means A
- perfect fit.
- This means the physical properties (i.e. size, shape, electrical charge, and atomic composition) and chemical properties of the receptor are perfectly compatible with that of the drug molecule
Chemical Basis for Drug Receptor Interactions
- ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTIONS
- HYDROPHOBIC INTERACTIONS
- COVALENT BONDS
- STEREOSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS
this is the **most common mechanism **of drug receptor interactions
ELECTROSTATIC INTERACTIONS
What are your example of Electrostatic interaction?
- Hydrogen Bonds,
- Van der Waals forces)
INTERACTIONS – important for lipid-soluble drugs
HYDROPHOBIC INTERACTIONS
- the least common
COVALENT BONDS
What are your example of Hydrophobic interactions?
- phenoxybenzamine binding to alphaadrenergic receptors)
What are your example of STEREOSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS - example is
- carvedilol. S(-) carvedilol binds to both alpha- and
- beta-adrenoceptors,
- whereas R(+) carvedilol binds selectively to alpha adrenoceptors
what are the Properties of Agonists:
Affinity and Efficacy
What is an affinity?
tenacity with which a drug binds to its receptor.
In statistical terms, it is the probability
that a drug molecule will bind to an available receptor at any given instant in time
What is an efficacy?
It is an inherent property of an agonist that determines its ability to produce a biological effect.
What is Potency – ?
comparative term for distinguishing which agonist has a higher affinity for a given
receptor
What are Partial Agonists –?
drugs that produce less than maximal activation of a receptor
Signal Transduction Mechanisms
- Direct activation of an ion channel
- Stimulation of an ion channel via activation of G-protein.
- Use of second messenger via G-protein activation of adenylyl cyclase.
- Use of second messenger via G-protein activation of phosphoslipase C
Define Direct activation of an ion channel -
- The drug is structurally attached to an ion channel.
- Binding of the drug results in a conformational change in the receptor/channel complex that typically causes the ion channel to open.
- This results in a flow of channel permeant ions.
What are your examples of Direct activation of an ion channel?
Example:
- nicotinic cholinergic receptors (neuromuscular junction),
- GABA receptors and
- receptors for excitatory amino acids (glycine, glutamate, aspartate)
What is Stimulation of an ion channel via activation of G-protein.
Either the alpha or beta/gamma subunits
stimulate the channel to open. This is the mechanism by which acetylcholine acts to slow the heart
rate.
What are your example of stimulation of ion channel via the g-protein?
Example: m2 – cholinergic receptors
How is the Use of second messenger via G-protein activation of adenylyl cyclase.
This mechanism is
responsible for NE’s ability to increase the force of contraction of the heart muscle, which results
from the phosphorylation of the L-type Ca channel by protein kinase
How is the Use of second messenger via G-protein activation of phosphoslipase C.
this mechanism is believed to mediate the vasoconstrictive effects of Angiotensin II on vascular smooth muscle
How is the Activation of tyrosine kinase.
This class of receptors mediates the first steps in the transduction of signals carried by insulin and variety of growth factors such EGF
Kinds of Antagonists
- Non-competitive antagonism
- Competitive antagonism
- Other Types
- Chemical antagonism
- Functional antagonism
- Pharmacokinetic antagonism
What is Non-competitive antagonism - ?
antagonist acts at a site beyond the receptor for the agonist
What is Competitive antagonism? -
antagonist combines with the receptor on the same site as does the
agonist, but unlike the agonist,does not induce a response (that is, the antagonist has little or NO
Competitive antagonism
EFFICACY
- Competitive reversible antagonism
- Competitive irreversible antagonism
What is Competitive reversible antagonism – ?
the degree of antagonism increases as the concentration
of the antagonist increases.
On the other hand, the degree of antagonism may be overcome if the concentration of the agonist is increased
What is Competitive irreversible antagonism – ?
may not be overcome by increasing the concentration
of the drug (agonist).
The antagonist inactivates the receptors
What is Chemical antagonism –
It occurs when a drug reduces the concentration of an agonist by forming _chemical complexes _
What is an example of Chemical antagonism?
dimercaprol
What is Functional antagonism –
It involves drug activation of two different compensatory biological
mechanisms that exist to maintain homeostasis
Give an example of Functional antagonism?
(example: effect of NE to increase blood
pressure can be antagonized by acetylcholine)
What is Pharmacokinetic antagonism – ?
It occurs when one drug accelerates the metabolism or
elimination of another
Give an example of pharmacologic antagonism?
(example: phenobarbital-induced enzyme induction increases the
metabolism of anticoagulant Coumadin)
Synergism versus Additivity
When two drugs are given together, they typically produce additive effects (or summative effects).
That is, the combined effects of two drugs is EQUAL TO THE SUM OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL
EFFECTS
Addivity
What is an example of Additivity?
(example: giving barbiturates and a tranquilizer may increase the sedative effect in an
individual)
However, if the effect of two drugs exceeds the sum of their individual effects, this is referred to as
______________.
synergism (or potentiation)
______________requires that drugs act at DIFFERENT RECEPTORS OR
EFFECTOR SYSTEMS
Potentiation
What is an example of potentiation?
(ex: barbiturates + alcohol = coma/death)
Selectivity versus Specificity
What is Selectivity –?
in terms of drug effect, it is the extent or ability of the drug to affect a particular cell
type
What is Specificity –
a drug property that connotes that it has an exclusive effect and ONLY ONE action on
all biological systems
However, the vast majority of drugs are__________ rather than specific.
SELECTIVE
Meaning, most drugs will act on
more than one receptor site once they reach an appropriately high concentrations
The higher the selectivity of a pharmacological effect, the ____________ is the range of drug action.
narrower
The lower
the selectivity of pharmacological effect, the broader the range of drug action
What is Quantal-Dose Relationships –
represent a cumulative distribution of the population responding to a
particular drug.
This depicts the relationship between the dose of a drug versus the frequency that this
dose produces a minimum effect
A quantal dose-response curve requires that
(1) data be obtained from a group of individuals (as opposed
to graded dose response curve) and
(2) is constructed with which the dose plotted on the horizontal axis is evaluated against the percentage of subjects in the experimental population that is protected by each dose (vertical axis)
What are the data that can be obtained from the Quantal Dose Curve
- Median effective dose (ED50)
- Median toxic dose (TD50)
- Median lethal dose (LD50)
What is Median effective dose (ED50) –
dose that produces the desired effect in 50% of the population
What is Median toxic dose (TD50) –
dose that produces a toxic effect in 50% of the population
What is the Median lethal dose (LD50) –?
dose that produces death in 50% of the population (based on animal
studies)
What is the Therapeutic Index –
It is the ratio between TD50 and ED50 (TD50/ED50).
Generally the higher the therapeutic
index, the safer is the drug.
In order to achieve its effect, a drug must first be presented in a suitable form at the appropriate site of
administration.
It must then be absorbed from the site of administration and distributed through the body to its site of action.
For the effect to wear off the drug must nearly always be metabolized and/or excreted.
Finally, drug residues are removed from the body.
Removal refers to the loss of material, unchanged drug and/or metabolic products, in urine and/or feces, once this material has been excreted into the bladder or bowel by the kidneys and liver.
What comprise the
DISPOSITION (placement around the body) of a compound.
Absorption and distribution
What _______ comprise the
FATE of a compound
Metabolism and excretion
Mechanisms of Drug Transfer
- Passive Diffusion
- Filtration
- Active Transport
- Facilitated Diffusion
- Pinocytosis
What is Passive Diffusion ?
- through the membrane, DOWN a concentration gradient.
It is by far the most
important transfer mechanism for foreign molecules
What is Filtration – ?
refers to the passage of drug through pores in the membrane
What is Active Transport –
It is energy dependent, saturable, against the concentration gradient, selective carrier
mediated
What is Facilitated Diffusion –
It requires no energy, saturable, never against an electrochemical gradient,
selective carrier-mediated
What is Pinocytosis -?
microscopic invaginations of the cell will engulf drops of extracellular fluid; in this
way, solutes are carried through in the resulting vacuoles of water
What is the Fick’s law of diffusion?
The rate of diffusion of a drug (or flux) is a function of the :
- concentration gradient across the membrane,
- the surface area over the transfer occurs,
- the thickness of the membrane,
- and the permeability coefficient which is characteristic of the particular drug.
What is the permeability coefficient ?
It is a function of its solubility in the membrane, the molecular mass, and its
steric configuration.
What is theLipid-Water Partition Coefficient
The ability of a drug to diffuse across membranes is expressed in terms of its lipid-water partition
coefficient.
This coefficient is defined as the ratio of the concentration of the drug in two immiscible
phases;
- a non-polar liquid or organic solvent, representing the membrane;
- and an aqueous buffer.
Increasing the polarity of the drug, either by increasing its degree of ionization or by adding a functional
group, _____________ the coffecient.
decreases the coefficient
Conversely, reducing the polarity or by the drug more non-ionized, ____________ the coefficient
increases
Extent of Ionization
In aqueous solutions, drugs dissociate in either ionized or un-ionized form as dictated by the drug’s
ionization constant (K) and the prevailing pH of the solution.
Drug Administration
Oral advantages
- convenient,
- requires no medical skills or sterile conditions,
- appropriate for outpatient use and medicine over the counter,
- for those with difficulty swallowing tablets –
- solutions/suspensions
In the oral drug admin,absorption occurs chiefly by____________ for lipophilic molecules
passive diffusion
In the oral drug admin,absorption occurs chiefly by __________- for
endogenous drugs such as 5-fluorouracil (cytotoxic drug)
active transport
Weak bases cannot be absorbed until they have left the stomach, so prolonged gastric emptying can
delay the effect of such drugs
Pertinent Issues in Oral Administration
Pre-systemic Metabolism
Pre-systemic Metabolism
- If the drug is largely metabolized as it passes through the liver, then little of it will reach the systemic circulation. Example is glyceryl trinitrate.
- The extent to which a drug undergoes pre-systemic circulation may be obtained by comparing the plasma concentration-time curves or comparing the Area Under The Curves (AUC), after an oral and an intravenous dose of the drug.
- Bioavailability – reflects the fraction of drug absorbed into systemic circulation. Experimentally, this is measured by comparing the AUC of the drug when serial measurements of plasma concentrations are made following oral administration compared to IV
Factors affecting Bioavailability
- Molecular weight
- Drug formulation
- Drug solubility
- Chemical instability in gastric pH
- First-pass metabolism
- Blood flow to the site
- Surface area available for absorption
- Gastric emptying time
- pH of the gut
- Intestinal motility