Module 1 - Introductory Pharmacology Flashcards
- Definitions - Causes of Diseases - ADME
Drugs
Any substance that causes a change in an organism’s physiology or psychology when consumed.
Receptor
A region of tissue, or a molecule in a cell membrane, which responds specifically to a neurotransmitter, hormone, antigen, or other substance.
Enzyme
Proteins that are targets of many therapeutically useful drugs. Enzymes in the body accelerate important chemical reactions.
Pharmacology
The science dealing with actions of drugs on the body (pharmacodynamics) and the fate of drugs in the body (pharmacokinetics).
Pharmacodynamics
Branch of pharmacology that studies the effects of drugs and the mechanism of action (aka what do drugs actually do and how do they do it)
Pharmacokinetics
Branch of pharmacology that studies the movement of drugs within the body
Genes
A unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring
Pathogens
A specific causative agent (such as a bacterium or virus) of disease. In traditional biology a pathogen is anything that can produce disease.
Poison
Any substance that can cause illness or death when ingested in small quantities.
Antigen
A toxin or other foreign substance which induces an immune response in the body, especially the production of antibodies.
Agonist
A drug which binds to its “receptor” and produces its characteristic effect.
Antagonist
A molecule binds to the receptor without causing an effect, thereby preventing an active substance from gaining access.
Efficacy (or Intrinsic Activity)
The maximum effect of which the drug is capable of.
Affinity
The strength of binding between drug and receptor.
Selectivity
The separation between desired and undesired effects of a drug.
In the ideal case, a drug is completely specific, and an effective dose does not elicit any undesired effect
Genetic Diseases
Result from mutations in the genetic complement (genome) contained in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of chromosomes. It can be a hereditary mutation (e.g. Huntington’s) or a mutation caused by the environment (UV Ray exposure can lead to skin cancer)
Physiological Diseases
Abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not due to any immediate external injury. (Think poison)
Autoimmune Disease
Disease involving the immune system. These fall into two broad categories: (1) those that arise when some aspect of the host’s immune mechanism fails to prevent infection (immune deficiencies) and (2) those that occur when the immune response is directed at an inappropriate antigen*.
Infectious Disease
Disease that involves the is the invasion of an organism’s body tissues by disease-causing agents (virus, bacteria, fungi), their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agents and the toxins they produce.
Small Molecule Drugs:
- Synthesized in a lab (or extracted from plants or fungi)
- Often straightforward to produce
- Stable at room temperature
- Simple structure
- Exact chemical structure determined
Biologic Drugs:
- Produced by a living cell or animal
- Challenging to produce
- Usually needs refrigeration
- Complex structure, hard to determine exactly
Branches of Pharmacology:
- Pharmacodynamics
- Pharmacokinetics
- Therapeutics
- Pharmacy
- Toxicology
Causes of Diseases:
- Genetic Diseases
- Physiological Diseases
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Infectious Diseases
Cell Membrane
The “barrier” of the cell, almost like an animal’s cell wall! Made up of lipids, and drugs which enter it must be able to dissolve in oils.
*Composed of Phospholipids
