Lecture 3 - Drug target Pharmacodynamics

Question 1

Therapeutic index

Answer 1

Determines drug safety, wider range means the drug is safer to use and monitored less vigorously

Question 2

Min. effective conc. on graph

Answer 2

Below this value there isn’t enough drug in the system to cause an effect.

Question 3

How do drugs get to targets?

Answer 3

via dissolution, must be in liquid environment. Must be polar but also lipid soluble as some parts of drugs will interact with different environments.

Question 4

how do drugs bind to targets?

Answer 4

• Intermolecular interactions happen depending on the functional groups present
  
  • Electrostatic interactions are strongest force, followed by Hydrogen bonding
• Ionisable functional groups???
• Dynamic systems - constantly moving all the time, not stationary
• Enzymes cause bending and movement of molecules lowering activation energy, which is why they catalyse reactions
• Competitive inhibitors bind more strongly (or form extra bonds) than the natural compound to the enzyme therefore blocking natural compound from binding.
  Small changes in functional groups can changed pharmacodynamic action of drugs.