exam 1 key terms Flashcards
antidepressants
a drug class that contains medications used to treat major depressive disorder, some anxiety disorders, some chronic pain conditions, and help to manage some addictions. Common side-effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, sexual dysfunction, and emotional blunting
anxiolytic
a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxiety disorders and their related psychological and physical symptoms.
Anxiety, mild behavioral agitation, and insomnia.
bioavailability
the proportion of a drug or other substance which enters the circulation when introduced into the body and so is able to have an active effect.
Key indicator of drug absorption. It represents the administered dose fraction which archives success in reaching the systemic circulation when administered orally or through any other extravascular dosing route.
clearance
is equal to the rate at which a drug is removed from plasma (mg/min) divided by the concentration of that drug in the plasma. The total ability of the body to clear the drug from the plasma is renal clearance plus hepatic clearance plus clearance from all other tissues.
clinical response
also used as an indicator of therapeutic efficacy in combination with other indicators. Represents a complex phenotypes that emerges from the interplay of drug-specific, human body, and environmental factors
convulsants
a drug which induces convulsions and/or epileptic seizures. These drugs generally act as stimulants at low doses.
Substances that act in the brain stem or spinal cord to produce tonic or clonic convulsions, often by removing normal inhibitory tone. They were formerly used to stimulate respiration or as antidotes to barbiturate overdose
distribution
the movement of a drug to and from the blood and various tissues of the body and the relative proportions of drugs in the tissue
Distribution is generally uneven because of differences in blood perfusion, tissue binging (because of lipid content), regional pH, and permeability of cell membranes
The entry rate of a drug into a tissue depends on the rate of blood flow to the tissue, tissue mass, and partition characteristics between blood and tissue.
The extent of drug distribution into tissues depends on the degree of plasma protein and tissue binding. In the bloodstream, drugs are transported partly in solution as free drug and partly reversibly bound to blood components.
efficacy
describes the maximum response that can be achieved with a drug. The effect of the drug is plotted against dose in a graph, to give the dose-response curve. The increasing doses are displayed by the X acis and the half maximal and maximal responses are displayed by the Y axis.
hallucinogens
large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception, among other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized as psychedelics, dissociatives, or delirants.
narcotic analgesics
substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief.
Have actions at two sites, the presynaptic nerve terminal and the postsynaptic neuron. The postsynaptic actions of opioids are usually inhibitory. The presynaptic action of opioids is to inhibit neurotransmitter release, and this is considered to be their major effect in the nervous system.
pharmacology
neuropharmacology
psychopharmacology
pharmocokinetics
pharmacodynamcs
physical nature of a receptor
active transport
the movement of ions or molecules across a cell membrane into a region of higher concentration, assisted by enzymes and requiring energy
adverse effects
an unexpected medical problem that happens during treatment with a drug, they may be mild, moderate, or severe. Unintended pharmacologic effects, not the same thing as a side effect.
Ex: rashes, jaundice, anemia, decrease in white blood cell count
agonist
a drug or substance that binds to a receptor inside a cell or on its surface and causes the same action as the substance that normally binds to the receptor
amplification
a judged tendency of a person to amplify physical symptoms based on psychological factors such as anxiety or depression
biotransformation
the process by which substances that enter the body are changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic molecules to facilitate elimination from the body. This process usually generates products with few or no toxicological effects
competitive antagonist
binds to the same site as the agonist but does not activate it, thus blocks the agonist action
cross tolerance
tolerance or resistance to a drug that develops through continued use of another drug with similar pharmacological action
cytochrome p-450
a group of heme containing enzymes embedded primarily in the lipid bilayer of the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes, it takes part in the metabolism of many drugs, steroids, and carcinogens.
effective dose
the dose or amount of drug that produces a therapeutic response or desired effect in some fraction of the subjects taking it.
Effector - molecules that translate the drug-receptor interaction into a change in cellular activity. A bodily tissue, structure, or organ that becomes active in response to stimulation.
efficacies
the maximum response that can be achieved with a drug. The effect of the drug is plotted against dose in a graph, to give the dose-response curve
endothelial cells
the main type of cell found in the inside lining of blood vessels, lymph vessels, and the heart. Endothelial cells release substances that control vascular relaxation and contraction as well as enzymes that control blood clotting, immune function and platelet adhesion
facilitated diffusion
a form of facilitate transport involving the passive movement of molecules along their concentration gradient, guided by the presence of another molecule usually an integral membrane protein forming a pore or channel, does not directly involve high energy molecules
first-pass effect
a phenomenon in which a drug gets metabolized at a specific location in the body that results in a reduced concentration of the active drug upon reaching its site of action or the systemic circulation, can ensure the appropriate drug route of administration and dosing of the patient
G proteins
specialized proteins with the ability to bind the nucleotides guanosine triphosphate and guanine diphosphate some G proteins such as the signaling protein RAS, are small proteins with a single subunit, used by cells to convert extracellular signals into intracellular responses, including responses to hormones, neurotransmitters, as well as response to vision, olfaction, and taste signals
gated channels
an ion channels in cell membrane that opens or closes in response to a stimulus such as a neurotransmitter or to a change in pressure, voltage or light
Potencies - a measure of drug activity expressed in terms of the amount required to produce an effect of given intensity
prodrugs
medications that turn into an active from once they enter the body. Prodrugs help improve a medications effectiveness. They may also be designed to avoid certain side effects or toxicities
protein binding
- plasma protein binding refers to the degree to which medications attach to proteins within the blood. A drug’s efficacy may be affected by the degree to which it binds. The less bound a drug is, the more efficiently it can transverse or diffuse through cell membranes.
receptor
- a region of tissue, or a molecule in a cell membrane, which responds specifically to a particular neurotransmitter, hormone, antigen, or other substance
receptor desensitization
refers to the decreased responsiveness that occurs with repeated or chronic exposure to agonist and is a general feature of most signaling membrane receptors. Prolonged stimulation of a response induced by a receptor begins to wane.
receptor down regulation
characterized by a decrease in total receptor number in the cell due to endocytosis and subsequent degradation of the receptors caused by long term exposure to agonists. Reduces the cell’s sensitivity to the molecule
receptor up regulation
upregulation (increase in the number) of receptors occurs when the activity of the receptor is lower than usual, (due to long term administration of an antagonist)
sensitization
the enhancement of a directly elicited drug effect, though adaptive, appears to represent facilitation within a system, making the effect easier to elicit on future occasions