lecture 2 Flashcards
What are the two components of all medicines?
Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and excipients.
What is the role of excipients in medicines?
They are inactive ingredients that help with the delivery of the API.
What is pharmaceutical formulation?
The process of combining various chemicals with the API to create a final medicinal product.
Why is a physical carrier used in pharmaceutical formulation?
To ensure adequate efficacy, delivery, and stability of the medicine.
What are dosage forms?
The physical forms of a dose of medication, such as tablets, syrups, injections, and aerosols.
What factors influence the choice of a dosage form for the same API?
Medical condition and stability requirements.
What are some functions of dosage forms
Achieving a predictable therapeutic response, ensuring stability, preventing microbial contamination, providing uniformity of dose.
What is bioavailability?
The extent to which an API becomes available at its intended biological destination.
Why does oral administration have lower bioavailability compared to IV administration?
Due to first pass metabolism in the liver
Which route of administration has the fastest onset of action?
Intravenous (IV) injections, which act within seconds.
What factors should be considered when choosing a route of administration?
Physical and chemical properties of the API, desired site of action, rapidity and accuracy of action, and the patient’s condition.
Why is solubility important in drug development?
It influences pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics.
Pharmacodynamics
What the drug does to the body
Pharmacokinetics
What the body does to the drug
What can you do to enhance solubility?
Chemical modifications, addition of surfactants, formation of complexes or salts, and introduction of hydrophilic groups.
How do physical modifications improve solubility?
Size reduction techniques like milling or microionisation increase surface area for greater interaction with solvents.
What is polymorphism in pharmaceuticals?
The ability of a substance to exist in more than one crystal form.
What are salts and cocrystals used for in pharmaceutics?
To modify solubility and stability of APIs.
What are the advantages of oral administration?
Convenience and ease of use.
What are some limitations of oral administration?
Low and unpredictable absorption, degradation, and first-pass metabolism
What are the benefits of parenteral administration?
Rapid absorption, avoidance of first-pass metabolism, and predictable blood concentrations.
What is the respiratory route used for, and what are its benefits?
Suitable for gases, aerosols, mists, or ultrafine particles; provides a large surface area for absorption and rapid onset of action.
What are the challenges of parenteral administration?
Requires sterile procedures, can cause pain and tissue injury, and is more expensive.
What is the sublingual route, and why is it used?
Offers rapid absorption through the mucosa and bypasses first-pass metabolism.
What is insulin’s role in the body?
Regulates blood glucose levels by facilitating glucose uptake
Why is insulin therapy used in diabetes?
To compensate for the body’s inability to produce sufficient insulin.
What is first-pass metabolism?
Drug metabolism often in the liver which reduces the bioavailability of the drug.
Define solubility
The ability for of a substance, to dissolve in a solvent.
Define permeability
The speed of passage of an API through a biological membrane.
