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Pharmacology > Introduction to Pharmacology > Flashcards

Introduction to Pharmacology Flashcards

Learning outcomes • Define the term pharmacodynamics • Identify molecular targets for drug action including receptors, ion channels, enzymes and transporters • Identify cellular mechanisms of action including excitation, contraction and secretion and describe how these actions translate into responses at the tissue and organ level • Explain the relationship between drug dose and response

1
Q

What is pharmacology?

A

The science of drugs and their effect on living systems.

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2
Q

What is pharmacodynamics?

A

The mechanism of action of a drug to the body.

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3
Q

What is pharmacokinetics?

A

What the body does to the drug (E.g. absorbed, metabolised, excreted).

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4
Q

How do drugs work?

A
  • By identifying molecular targets for drug action.
  • By identifying cellular mechanisms of action.
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5
Q

What are molecular targets for drug action?

A

Receptors, ion channels, enzymes and transporters.

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6
Q

What are cellular mechanisms of action?

A

Excitation, contraction and secretion.

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7
Q

What is an agonist?

A

A substance that mimics the actions of a neurotransmitter or hormone to produce a response when it binds to a specific receptor in the brain.

Agonists have affinity and efficacy.

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8
Q

What are antagonists?

A

Chemical substances that bind to and block the activation of certain receptors on cells, preventing a biological response.

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9
Q

What is drug affinity?

A

The ability to bind to the target receptor.

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10
Q

What is efficacy?

A

The ability to change receptor activity to produce a response/effect.

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11
Q

What is potency?

A

The amount of the drug/ concentration of the drug required to produced a defined effect.

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12
Q

What is salbutamol?

A
  • An agonist drug.
  • Causes bronchodilation
  • Mimics the action of adrenaline from adrenal glands
  • Binds and activates adrenergic receptors on smooth muscle surface - intracellular signals via G proteins which leads to muscle relaxation
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13
Q

What are antihistamines?

A
  • Antagonist drugs that oppose the action of histamine
  • Pollen stimulates mast cells to release histamine which activates histamine receptors and leads to swelling, fluid exudation (via intracellular signalling)
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14
Q

What are enzyme inhibitors?

A

Compounds which modify the catalytic properties of the enzyme and slow down the reaction rate / stop the catalysis. Block or distort the active site.

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15
Q

What are statins?

A

Enzyme Inhibitor
Compounds that inhibit cholesterol synthesis (e.g. Atorvastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin, rosuvastatin)

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16
Q

What is Ibuprofen?

A

Enzyme inhibitor
- Inhibits cyclooxygenase which produce prostaglandins that cause inflammation (swelling and pain).

17
Q

What are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)?

A

PPIs prevent H+/K+ ATPase from working so acid isn’t pumped into the stomach from cells in stomach lining which pump hydrogen ions into the stomach via the H+/K+ ATPase, increasing stomach pH.

18
Q

What are antidepressants?

A
  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that inhibit the transporter protein that moves serotonin from synapse into cells.
19
Q

What is the function of local anaesthetics?

A

Block sodium channels which prevents nerve conduction. Action potential cannot be generated as it requires ion channels.

20
Q

What is drug selectivity ?

A
  • The ability of a drug to bind to one receptor subtype without affecting another receptor subtype.
21
Q

What is the cancer risk from replication errors?

A
  • human body has over 10^13 cells and over an avg. lifetime undertakes 10^16 mitotic divisions occur due to turnover. Each cell contains a genome of ~ 3 billion bases to be replicated
  • Cancer risks will relate to fidelity of DNA replication and recognition and replacement of errors
  • Transcription mistakes are possible with ecery new cell that is formed. Ageing is a risk factor due to increased likelihood of errors and also environmental exposures
  • If cancer was due to biological processes only , the incidence of cancer should be similar across different populations but vaaries between countries highlighting the importance of lifestyle and environment
21
Q

What are cancer risks due to genetics?

A
  • Only 5-10 % of all cancer risk is due to genetic inheritance, with the remainder from lifestyle and environmental factors
  • Many life-style factors can be avoided and risks minimalised

q

22
Q

What is the genetic epidemiology of cancer?

A
  • Focuses on the understanding of :
  • the role of genetic factors in relation to the susceptibilty to and relapse from cancer and the relationship between environmental and lifestyle exposures and genetic susceptibility
  • Can involve the use of families and population-based case-control studies to:
  • identify susceptibility genes
  • Determine the contribution of these genes to the incidence of cancers in population
  • Understand the inter-relationship between genetic susceptibility and environmental and lifestyle exposures
  • Understand the timing of critical environmental and lifestyle exposures for cancer
  • investigate both somatic gene changes germline genetic variation and environmental lifestyle exposures in determining risk of relapse
23
Q

What are the health risks from pollutants?

A

~65,000 current licensed chemicals, 500-1000 new ones/year
-Recent gov report concluded that the majority of cancers are from chemical exposures
- Risk assessment of chemical exposures often rely on animal models without human exposure testign and rarely consider multiple chemical exposures

24
Q

How can chemicals damage DNA?

A
  • Increased risk of cancer drom environmental and occupational chemical exposures
  • 8-Hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG is a marker of oxidative stress damage to DNA)
25
Q

What is the correlation between cancer and lifestyle?

A
  • Susceptibility to cancer is influenced by lifestyle and environmental factors
  • Fluid and can be driven by a change in these factors such as population movement
26
Q

What is the viral infection risk factor for cancer?

A
  • Possibilty of viral oncoprotein expression and/or modification of genes is a one or two step process
27
Q

What is an example of the viral-induction of cancer?

A
  • HPV
  • Viral protein disrupts normal cell growth and monitoring of cell death by degrading tumour suppressors such as p53 (hpv e6 protein) and promoting cell proliferation (HPV E7 protein)
28
Q

What are bacterial-related cancers?

A
  • Example : link between chronic helicobacter pylori infection and potential driver for stomach cancer
29
Q
A

Pharmacology (14 decks)

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