PHARM... Flashcards
what is pharmacodynamics?
effect of drug on the body
small differerences in structure produce __________ changes in activity and toxicity.
dramatic changes
How does a drug produce its effect?
interacting w/a macromolecule within or expressed at the surface of a cell - the receptor.
What is an agonist?
a drug that activates molecular, biochemical, physiological events associated with that interaction
What does a receptor do?
Recognition (confers selectivity; receptor must recognize drug and drug must fit well in receptor site to activate)
Signal transduction (trasnmits signal to cell)
Do drugs initiate new cellular functions?
NO.
they only increase or decrease cell function
What imparts selectivity in drug binding?
RECOGNITION
(the drugs binds one or a small # of receptor types)
What imparts specificity of drug action?
tissue localization of different recepter types
(the drug exerts a distinctive influence on the body - only effect specific places)
What is pharmacology?
study of substances that interact with living systems through chemical processes
What are the majority of drug receptors?
they’re proteins, which include enzymes, transporters, ion channels, structural proteins, and regulatory proteins.
Do most drugs bind to receptors covalently?
no, most drugs interact through weak forces.
4 ways transduction mechanisms act:
1) directly alter the function of the receptor (e.g. an ion channel or enzyme)
2) generate a “2nd” messenger (e.g. cyclic AMP) which in turn alters cellular function
3) involve changes in gene transcription due to interaction of an activated receptor complex with DNA.
4) direct effects on RNA or DNA are also possible when nucleic acids act as the drug receptor.
Transduction Mechanisms
G Protein-coupled Receptor Signaling
Drug binds to G-protein
Most common drug receptor group
GPCRs regulate “2nd messengers” such as cAMP, cGMP, Ca2+, diacylglycerol (DAG), and inositol trisphosphate (IP3).
What is the best known of the Transduction Mechanisms?
Ion Channels
ligands bind, allows ions to follow electrochemical grandients…can lead to depolarization…
channels regulated by membrane potential - channel substrates include Na+, Cl-, Ca2+, K+
Which of the Transduction Mechanisms involves dimerization upon binding?
Receptors as Enzymes/ligand binding
think insulin/cytokines etc - express catalytic activity.
Many are kinases
Intrinsic enzyme activity phosphorylates diverse effector proteins
Which of the Transduction Mechanisms is the only floating one?
The ones regulating nuclear transcription.
the others are all in membrane. These float around in cytoplasm with a chaperone
What are the attributes of receptor-mediated processes
A. Highly compartmentalized; confers drug specificity
B. Self-limiting (most; excepting intracellular hormone receptors); potential basis for drug tolerance [doesn’t keep going - turns off]
C. Organized into opposing systems; another potential basis for drug tolerance as well as possible drug-drug interactions.
D. Create opportunities for signal amplification (characteristic of G-protein)
E. Operate through a relatively small number of 2nd messenger systems; another potential basis for drug-drug interactions (essentially an expansion of attribute C). # of receptors greatly outnumber secondary signals - has to do with control
Do all drugs interact with receptors?
No!
- some interact with small molecules or ions (chelators)
- some act by physicochemical mechanisms (may move water in/out of certain systems, change pH, act as anesthesia…)
- some target rapidly dividing cells (e.g., chemotherapeutic agents)
What are cell cycle-specific drugs?
toxic to cells that are dividing or preparing to divide
some = structural analogs of certain compounds that act by interfereing w/DNA/RNA synthesis
others bind to DNA and cause strand breaks
others target cellular machinery needed for cell division
What are cell cycle-nonspecific drugs?
toxic to cells cycling OR resting (G0)
many damage/bind to DNA, interfering with normal cell function
What is the Occupancy Theory?
Drug + Receptor Drug Receptor Complex -> Effect
It assumes that effect is proportional to receptor occupancy and that interaction is monovalent (one receptor binds one ligand).
Why do you use log dose line in dose-response curves?
So it’s easier to get EC50
What is response to a drug proportional to?
RECEPTOR OCCUPANCY
What is affinity?
ability to complex w/receptor.
characterized as 1/KD
The greater the affinity, the ________ the drug concentration required to produce an effect
LOWER
what is potency?
relative position of dose-response curve (it’s comparative, and high potency does not necessarily make a drug better)
What is efficacy?
the ability of a drug-receptor complex to produce a response
also known as intrinsic activity
What is the difference between a full agonist and a partial agonist?
Full Agonist (X)
Maximal response
Has full efficacy (alpha=1)
Partial Agonist (Z)
Produces less than maximal response
Has partial efficacy (1>alpha>0)
What is the difference between a
pure antagonist
a competitive antagonist
and a
non-competitive antagonist?
pure antagonist:
has afinity for receptor
inhibits action of agonist
has no efficacy (alpha = 0)
competitive antagonist:
- reversible
- agonist dose-response curve will shift to RIGHT in presence of compet. antagonist
- apparent affinity of agonist is reduced
- slope does not change
- maxmal response can be produced
non-competitive antagonist:
- irreversible (permanent interaction with receptor)
- apparent affinity changes little if at allll
- slope reduced
- maximal resopnse reduced
- apparent # of receptors decrease (you can’t rescue the response)
What is physiological antagonism?
totally different type - using 1 drug to deal with the effects of another; not to do with receptors like others.
invovles interactions among regulatroy pathways mediated by different receptors
a drug that impacts 1 pathway is used to “antagonize” (counteract) an effect caused by a different pathway
What is a partial agonist?
efficacy - 1>alpha>0
in presence of full agonist, it may act as an antagonist
there are different levels of effect - it is quite common, but something that occupancy theory does not explain
What is the other case where occupancy theory is not relevant?
Inverse Agonist
add drug, get LESS effect
add antagonist to it, and it becomes unresponsive to everything
There has been step-wise sophistication in models - 2-state theory led to 3-state theory led to 4-state theory…
how do people think about all this mess now?
every receptor in environment that strongly impacts it; there are allowsteric sites on the receptor that modify the receptor’s response to ligands and drugs.
What’s with ‘spare receptors’?
Occupancy of a small percentage of receptors often elicits a maximal response. In this case the system behaves as if it has “spare” receptors (i.e., more than it “needs”). Under these circumstances the EC50 and KD values will be different (perhaps substantially so) - a clear violation of simple occupancy theory.
you can max out the system with 5% occupancy or something - it is the secondary messengers limiting the responses, not the receptors
What is the Quantal Dose Effect?
what is ED50?
- responses are all or none
- the curve shows the population response to a drug
- Can be used to find the median effective dose** (ED50)** is the dose required to produce the response in 50% of the population.
-can’t use this to find KD or max efficacy
- can get potency from looking at curve
- individual response = hyperractive if repsond to dose <<ed50></ed50> =hyporeactive if respond to dose >>ED50
what is tolerance?
form of hyporeactivity induced by repeated administration
what is a form of hyporeactivity induced rapidly after only a few doses?
tachyphylaxis
What is LD50?
drug concentration that will kill half your patients
what is ED50
drug concentration that will be effective in 50% of patients
what is the therapeutic index?
TI = LD50/ED50
measure of relative safety
What is CSF?
certain safety factor (a difficult to calculate conservative measure of safety)
CSF = LD1/ED99
LD1 (dose producing death in 1% of population)
ED99 (dose producing therapeutic response in 99% of population)
(larger the TI or CSF the better…there is no minimum, because sometimes you have to use drugs with small #s - like Chemo etc)
are certain molecules always agonists or always antagonists?
could be agonst at 1 receptor, partial agonist at another receptor, and an antagonist at a different receptor.
The “predominant” activity at any given time may be highly dependent on dose due to differences in affinity (i.e., KD values) for the different receptors with which the drug interacts.
what’s with side effects?
relates to drug activities at different receptor types (implies imperfect selectivity)
since the “main effect” is highly dependent on dosage, high dose levels may “unmask” undesired side effects that are not evident at lower dosages. Alternatively, dose may be adjusted by the clinician to emphasize a particular pharmacological effect
What is pharmacokinetics?
what the body does with a drug
response to a drug is a function of its concentration at the receptor site
What order of kinetics does pharmacokinetics follow?
1st order