Introduction To Pharmacology

Question 1

What is pharmacy?

Answer 1

Handling of drugs

Question 2

What is pharmacology?

Answer 2

Science of drugs

Question 3

What is toxicology?

Answer 3

Deals with poisons and hazardous effects of therapeutic drugs

Question 4

What is therapeutics?

Answer 4

Medical use of drugs

Question 5

What is the typical molecular weight of a drug?

Answer 5

200-1000 Daltons

Question 6

What are drugs?

Answer 6

Chemicals that bind to molecules in cells

Mimic, stimulate or block the action of endogenous molecules/processes

Question 7

What are chemotherapeutic drugs?

Answer 7

Agents which act against infectious micro-organisms or cancer cells by exploiting biochemical differences between normal and target cells

Question 8

What are some common mechanisms by which drugs work?

Answer 8

Enzyme blocker or activator

Ion pump blocker

Receptor modulator or blocker or agonist

Chemotherapeutic agents

Question 9

What do local anaesthetics do?

Answer 9

Block Na+ channels

Question 10

What is KD (dissociation constant)?

Answer 10

Concentration of drug required to occupy 50% of the receptors at equilibrium

Related to affinity

Question 11

What does a low KD tell you about a drug?

Answer 11

High affinity

Question 12

What is efficacy?

Answer 12

Relates to drug’s ability to activate the receptor to produce a response

OR

How well the drug activates the receptor

Question 13

What is an agonist?

Answer 13

Ligand that binds and activates a receptor

Question 14

What is an antagonist?

Answer 14

Ligand that binds to and does not activate a receptor

OR

Drug with affinity but no/zero efficacy

Question 15

What does AR* mean?

Answer 15

Agonist bound to a receptor producing a response

Question 16

What does AR mean?

Answer 16

Agonist or antagonist bound to a receptor

Question 17

What is affinity?

Answer 17

How readily a drug binds to a receptor

Question 18

What is a full agonist?

Answer 18

Drug with maximum possible efficacy

Question 19

What is a partial agonist?

Answer 19

Drug with less than maximal efficacy

Question 20

How does a reversible competitive antagonist affect the dose-response graph?

Answer 20

Parallel shift to right

Size of shift depends on concentration of antagonist

(Blocking by antagonist is surmountable by increasing agonist concentration)

Question 21

How does an irreversible competitive antagonist affect the dose-response graph?

Answer 21

Suppressed maximal response (not surmountable)

Degree of suppression dependent on antagonist concentration

Question 22

What does it mean when a drug has high potency?

Answer 22

Effective in small amounts

Question 23

What could cause a drug to have high potency?

Answer 23

High affinity

High efficacy

Slow metabolic breakdown in body

Question 24

What quantifies drug potency?

Answer 24

EC50

Question 25

What is EC50?

Answer 25

Concentration of drug producing 50% of the maximal response

Question 26

What does amoxicillin do?

Answer 26

Inhibit peptidoglycan synthesis | Destroy bacteria

Question 27

What does metronidazole do?

Answer 27

Causes DNA strand breakage Taken into non-mammalian cells and reduced to active form

Question 28

What does erythromycin do?

Answer 28

Inhibits protein synthesis by acting on 50S ribosomal unit

Question 29

What does tetracycline do?

Answer 29

Inhibit protein synthesis by competing with tRNA in precaryotic cells

Question 30

What is pharmacodynamics?

Answer 30

Effect of drug on organism

Question 31

What is pharmacokinetics?

Answer 31

Effect of organism on drug

Question 32

What is a big factor affecting absorption of a drug?

Answer 32

Lipid solubility of a drug (must cross lipid bilayers)

Question 33

What type of compound are local anaesthetics?

Answer 33

Weak bases

Question 34

What kind of pH does inflamed tissue have?

Answer 34

Low pH

Question 35

Why are local anaesthetics injected with sodium bicarbonate?

Answer 35

Increase local pH More uncharged form of drug Increases speed of anaesthesia onset

Question 36

What does bioavailability mean?

Answer 36

Proportion of drug reaching circulation

Question 37

What does i.m. mean?

Answer 37

Intramuscular

Question 38

What does i.v. mean?

Answer 38

Intravenous

Question 39

What does s.c. mean?

Answer 39

Subcutaneous

Question 40

What are phase 1 reactions?

Answer 40

Catabolic Product may be more toxic/active than parent (benzodiazepines)

Question 41

What are phase 2 reactions?

Answer 41

Synthetic Add chemical groups to form an inactive, more water-soluble compound

Question 42

Where does the excretion of most drugs occur?

Answer 42

Kidneys

Question 43

How do drugs enter the kidney?

Answer 43

Glomerular filtration Peritubular capillary secretion

Question 44

What type of drug is not easily excreted via the kidneys and why?

Answer 44

Lipid-soluble Easily diffuse out of nephron

Question 45

What is t(1/2)?

Answer 45

Half-time Time for drug concentration in plasma to halve

Question 46

Why do elderly people not need as large doses as younger people?

Answer 46

Drug metabolism and renal function decreases with age Drug has higher potency

Question 47

What does it mean when two drugs are pharmacodynamic?

Answer 47

Similar or opposite effects

Question 48

What does it mean when two drugs are pharmacokinetic?

Answer 48

One alters the absorption/distribution/metabolism/excretion of the other

Question 49

What happens if you take two drugs that are transported into the renal tubules by the same mechanism?

Answer 49

Mutual slowing of excretion

Question 50

What can induction of hepatic enzymes cause?

Answer 50

Decrease the effectiveness of other drugs metabolised by these enzymes (removed faster)

Question 51

What can inhibition of hepatic enzymes cause?

Answer 51

Increase effectiveness of other drugs metabolised by these enzymes (remain in body longer)

Question 52

What does phase I of a clinical trial test for? (3)

Answer 52

Pharmacokinetics Side effects Potency

Question 53

What does phase II of a clinical trial test for? (2)

Answer 53

Efficacy Dosage

Question 54

What does phase III of a clinical trial test for? (3)

Answer 54

Efficacy/comparison with current drugs Optimal dosage Incidence of side effects

Question 55

What kind of volunteers are used in phase I of clinical trials?

Answer 55

Healthy

Question 56

What kind of volunteers are used in phase II of clinical trials?

Answer 56

Patient

Question 57

What kind of volunteers are used in phase III of clinical trials?

Answer 57

Patient

Question 58

How long does a clinical trial last?

Answer 58

6-10 years