Introduction

Question 1

what does pharmacology deal with ?

Answer 1

the mechanisms of action , uses and unwanted side effects of a drug on living tissues

Question 2

what is a drug ?

Answer 2

a substance that modifies the activity of living tissue.

Question 3

physiology ?

Answer 3

the science of how living tissues function and drugs can interfere with the normal or abnormal physiology.

Question 4

therapeutics ?

Answer 4

the study of the use of pharmacological agents in disease states.

Question 5

pathology ?

Answer 5

the study of how the body goes wrong in disease states.

Question 6

give 2 agonists ?

Answer 6

acetylcholine and histamine

Question 7

what does Ach act on ?

Answer 7

muscarinic acetylcholine receptors , in the heart M2 and gastrointestinal M3 , M1 in neuronal system.

Question 8

what does histamine act on ?

Answer 8

H1 and H2 receptors

Question 9

what is an agonist ?

Answer 9

a drug or substance that directly causes a measurable response. It has affinity and efficacy.

Question 10

what can the response be described as and what does it depend on?

Answer 10

excitatory or inhibitory , just depends on the receptor being activated.

Question 11

what is affinity ?

Answer 11

binding to the receptor

Question 12

what is efficacy ?

Answer 12

this is the ability of the substance to cause a response.

Question 13

how can the agonist response be quantified ?

Answer 13

by a concentration response curve

Question 14

describe the CRC ?

Answer 14

sigmoidal in shape and plateaus at the top as the available receptors are all being activated ( Rmax).

Question 15

what is the EC50 ?

Answer 15

refers to the concentration of a drug which induces a response halfway between the baseline and maximum after a specified exposure time.

Question 16

what does it mean if the EC50 value is low ?

Answer 16

the drug is potent

Question 17

where will it be on a graph if most potent ?

Answer 17

left

Question 18

give examples of antagonists ?

Answer 18

hyoscine and atropine.

Question 19

how do they work ?

Answer 19

they act on the acetylcholine muscarinic receptors and prevent acetylcholine acting on them which prevents the smooth muscle contraction.

Question 20

are the effects of atropine and hyoscine reversible ?

Answer 20

yes

Question 21

description of antagonism ?

Answer 21

when the substance binds to the receptor as it has affinity , however it does not have efficacy and there is no response.

Question 22

pharmacological antagonism ?

Answer 22

binds to the same receptor as the agonist as they have similar structure. It is when 2 drugs counteract each other by acting on the same receptor types.

Question 23

chemical antagonism ?

Answer 23

when one drug antagonises the action of another by chemically combining with it.

Question 24

physiological antagonism ?

Answer 24

2 drugs counteract each other by producing opposing effects on different receptors.

Question 25

an increase of 10-8 to 10-7 is what ?

Answer 25

1000x

Question 26

how can you restore the response for competitive antagonism ?

Answer 26

increase the agonist concentration

Question 27

what is irreversible competitive antagonism ?

Answer 27

the bond between the antagonist and the receptor is so strong that even increasing concentrations of agonists cannot displace the antagonist. This is often due to covalent bonding.

Question 28

what is non competitive antagonism ?

Answer 28

the antagonist binds to a site other than the agonist binding site , this alters the affinity of the agonist , it’s binding.

Question 29

can agonists and antagonists have the same physiological response ?

Answer 29

yes just depends on the receptor location

Question 30

what is drug toxicity?

Answer 30

this is when drugs have undesirable effects that are toxic and environmental hazards

Question 31

all things are all poisonous but what makes a thing a poison ?

Answer 31

the dose

Question 32

where does the botulinum toxin come from ?

Answer 32

the gram positive rod shaped clostridium botulinum , it is anaerobic and forms spores

Question 33

how is botulism caused?

Answer 33

eating contaminated food. Associated with canned or bottled foodstuffs that have been incompletely sterilised.

Question 34

what are the symptoms of botulism ?

Answer 34

muscle paralysis , respiratory failure and death

Question 35

just one teaspoon of pure toxin could kill how many people ?

Answer 35

millions

Question 36

therapeutic uses of botulinum toxin ?

Answer 36

temporarily remove wrinkles and treat severe underarm sweating

Question 37

cervical dystonia ?

Answer 37

neurological condition in which the neck and shoulders have severe contractions.

Question 38

blepharospasm ?

Answer 38

uncontrolled blinking

Question 39

strabismum ?

Answer 39

misaligned eyes

Question 40

iatrogenicity ?

Answer 40

disease produced due to side effects from inappropriate prescription of drugs. For example antimalarial drug called Lariam ( mefloquine) causes psychiatric side effects such as suicidal feelings.

Question 41

Teratogenicity ?

Answer 41

there is a abnormalities in the foetus or unborn child. An example of this is the thalidomide scandal in the 1950’s that resulted in phocomelia , the children has stunted or abnormal limb formation

Question 42

describe thalidomide scandal in the 1950's ?

Answer 42

Thalidomide has 2 forms an R form that causes sedative effects and an S form that causes teratogenic side effects. The thalidomide was prescribed to treat morning sickness in pregnancy. Our liver can convert the R form into the teratogenic S form so even if the pharmaceutical companies only prescribed the R form it still has harmful effects.

Question 43

what would an ideal drug have ?

Answer 43

high potency as less needed so save money and high specificity as less side effects.

Question 44

in-vivo advantage and disadvantage

Answer 44

this uses live animals and can view the physiological effect on body , however anaesthesia needed.

Question 45

in-vitro ?

Answer 45

in the laboratory setting and advantages include reduces animal studies

Question 46

high throughput screening ?

Answer 46

uses single cells and an advantage is that you can control dosing , however this has issues as this doesn’t take into consideration the complexity of humans.

Question 47

the target of a drug can be ion channels , what does verapamil do?

Answer 47

blocks cardiac ca2+ ion channels

Question 48

what does prosac do and what is it ?

Answer 48

it is an antidepressant and it inhibits the uptake of 5H-T ( seretonin)

Question 49

targets of drugs are also receptors , what does salbutamol do ?

Answer 49

it is an agonist and causes smooth muscle relaxation to open the airways up.