Intro to Clinical Pharmacology Flashcards
Pharmacology
The study of drugs and their interaction in living systems
Drug
Any chemical that can affect living processes
Clinical pharmacology
Study of drugs in humans
Therapeutics
Use of drugs to diagnose, prevent, and treat disease or to prevent pregnancy
Properties of an Ideal Drug
- Effectiveness: elicit the responses for which it is given
- Safety: drug cannot produce harmful effects
- Selectivity: elicits only the response for which it is given
Factors that determine the intensity of drug responses
Administration, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, sources of individual variation
Pharmacokinetics
Impact of body on the drugs; absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, time course of drug responses
Application of pharmacokinetics in therapeutics
By applying knowledge of pharmacokinetics to drug therapy, we can help maximize beneficial effects and minimize harm
Absorption
Movement of a drug from its site of administration into the blood
Rate of absorption
Determines how soon effects will begin
Amount of absorption
Helps determine how intense the effects will be
Factors affecting drug absorption
Rate of dissolution, surface area, blood flow, lipid solubility, pH partitioning
Distribution
Movement of drugs throughout the body
How is drug distribution determined? (3 factors)
- Blood flow to tissues
- Exiting the vascular system
- Entering cells
Blood Flow to Tissues
- Drugs are carried by the blood to tissues and organs of the body
- Blood flow determines rate of delivery
Abscesses and tumors (reg. blood flow to tissues)
- Low regional blood flow impacts therapy
- Pus-filled pockets, not internal blood vessels
- Solid tumors have limited blood supply
Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB)
Tight junction between the cells that compose the walls of most capillaries in the CNS
-Drugs must be able to pass through cells of the capillary wall; only drugs that are lipid soluble or have a transport system can cross the BBB to a significant degree
Placental Drug Transfer
Membranes of the placenta do NOT constitute an absolute barrier to the passage of drugs; movement determined in the same way as other membranes
Risk with placental drug transfer
Birth defects: mental retardation, gross malformations, low birth weight; mother’s use of habitual opioids: birth of drug-dependent baby
Protein Binding
Drugs can form reversible bonds with various proteins; Plasma albumin is the most abundant and important > large molecule that always remains in the bloodstream; impacts drug distribution
Entering cells
- Some drugs must enter cells to reach the side of action
- Most drugs must enter cells to undergo metabolism and excretion
- Many drugs produce their effects by binding with receptors on the external surface of the cell membrane > do not need to cross the cell membrane to act
Drug Metabolism
Biotransformation; the enzymatic alteration of drug structure > most often takes place in the liver
P450 System
Most drug metabolism that takes place in the liver is performed by the hepatic microsomal enzyme system; metabolism doesn’t always result in a smaller molecule
Special Considerations in Drug Metabolism
Age, induction of drug-metabolizing enzymes, first-pass effect, nutritional status, competition between drugs