Pharmacology Flashcards
Define drug.
A chemical substance of known structure other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient which when administered to a living organism produces a biological effect.
Define medicine.
A chemical preparation which usually contains 1 or more drugs and is administered with the intention of producing a therapeutic effect.
Define pharmacology.
The study of how drugs interact with biological organisms.
Why may drugs not be beneficial?
Therapeutic – may be beneficial. Side effects or toxicity – may be harmful.
What are 4 reasons drugs are given?
- To produce a cure
- To suppress symptoms
- To prevents a disease or symptom (prophylactic)
- (For recreation, largely man)
What determines whether to give a drug?
- The likely benefit to the patient
- The probability of an adverse event and its severity
- The healthcare/social cost of adverse effects
- The financial cost of the drug to be used in relation to the benefit
- Is it licensed for use in this species for this condition? If not could still give drug – veterinary cascade
What are the properties of a therapeutic drug?
- Specific effects
- Beneficial vs adverse effects of the drug
- Selectivity of action – does the drug bind selectively to target?
- Does drug binding to target produce wanted effect without side effects?
Why might drugs not work?
- Insufficiently selective
- Changes in structure and function
- Lack of knowledge of disease process
- Species variability
- Drug interactions
- Idiosyncratic reactions
What is the therapeutic index of a drug?
Licensed small molecules drugs tend to work in the therapeutic effect range of low concentrations. As concentration is increased, drug may start interacting with other proteins in the body, which is when we begin to see side effects. When increased even more, it reacts with many proteins, receptors and enzymes and effecting many parts of the body. So giving an animal more drugs for greater beneficial effect may work within that therapeutic window but any further, serious side effects may begin to appear.
What happens when a drug is administered?
- Absorption
- Distribution
- Exertion of its pharmacological effects
- Metabolism
- Excretion
Define pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics.
Pharmacodynamics – the effects of the drug on the body.
Pharmacokinetics – the way the body deals with the drug.
Name the 6 molecular targets for drug action.
Receptors – transduce signal from drug
Enzymes – activate or switch off
Transporters – carry molecules across membrane
Ion channels – open or close
Nucleic acids – affect gene transcription (some anti-cancer drugs)
Miscellaneous – lipids, metal ions, etc
What is tetrodotoxin?
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a blocker of sodium ion channels (problem for action potentials and cardiac cycle) and is produced by puffer fish. LD50 in man is 5m/kg. 1-2mg is lethal.
Describe fluoxetine/Reconcile as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
- Serotonergic neurones contain vesicles of serotonin which is released from action potentials and enters the synaptic cleft.
- Activates post and pre-synaptic receptors.
- After it has had its action, it is re-taken back up into the neurone by the serotonin transporter.
- Fluoxetine will block that serotonin transporter and stop serotonin re-uptake in the synapse.
- Serotonin can stay longer in the synaptic cleft to interact with receptors.
How did Langley investigate effects of nicotine and curare in 1905?
Took a preparation of muscles with a nerve attached. Muscle contracts when the nerve is stimulated. This can be mimicked using a variety of drugs:
- Nicotine – causes twitch.
- Curare – blocks nicotine and nerve stimulation, muscle stimulation unaffected.
He proposed that ‘there is a chemical combination between the drug and a constituent of the cell – receptive substance’ which we now know as receptors.
Name the 4 receptor superfamilies.
Ionotropic (receptor operated channel)
Metabotropic (G protein coupled)
Tyrosine kinase
DNA linked
Give the speed and locations of each of the receptor superfamilies.
Ionotropic: fast (ms). Cell membrane and some on membranes inside the cell.
Metabotropic: medium (sec-min). Cellular membrane.
Tyrosine kinase: medium (sec-min). Cellular membrane.
DNA linked: slow (hours). Intracellular, many present in cytoplasm
What is the effect of ionotropic receptors?
Extracellular amino terminal, where the ligand binds. Regions which span the membrane and loop into the membrane, which are important to form the pore of ion channels. Intracellular carboxyl terminus. Made up of a number of subunits, which opens when the ligand binds.
What is the effect of metabotropic receptors?
They are associated with G proteins, which are made up if 3 subunits: alpha, beta and gamma.
Alpha is bound to GDP, which unbinds when the agonist binds. Dissociated to GTP and the alpha subunit which can go off to effect things in the cell. Beta and gamma stay together and can go off and effect things in the cell.
What is the effect of tyrosine kinase receptors?
When ligand binds, there is phosphorylation of tyrosine residues on the receptors.May also get dimerization – 2 receptor molecules come together and lead to an enzyme cascade.
What is the effect of DNA linked receptors?
When ligand binds, move to nucleus. Activate or inhibit gene transcription. Activated by hormones.
What are the 3 G coupled proetins classified by G-alpha?
Gs – stimulate adenylate cyclase, increase cAMP production, PKA activation
Gq – stimulate phospholipase C, increase IP3 and diacylglycerol DAG, lead to PKC activation and calcium release from endoplasmic reticulum
Gi/o – inhibit adenylate cyclase, decrease cAMP production, subunit inhibit Ca2+ channels and activate K+ channels
What are receptor subtypes?
The existence of multiple receptor subtypes provides the opportunity to develop more specific drugs.
Describe the 4 different histamine receptors as an example of receptor subtypes.
Histamine has different effects on different tissues:
- Contracts in smooth muscle for H1 receptors in bronchi
- Stimulates gastric secretion in H2 receptors
Histamine analogues can be designed to be selective for only one receptor subtype:
- H1 antagonists = anti-allergy
- H2 antagonists = anti-ulcer
Distinguish agonists and antagonists.
Agonists activate a receptor and antagonists reduces/blocks an agonist response. Both bind to receptors
What occurs when an agonist and when an antagonist bind to a receptor?
- Receptor and a drug forms a drug receptor complex.
- When the agonist binds to the receptor, it activates it, leading to a transduction mechanism, depending on the receptor, and cellular change.
- When the antagonist binds to the receptor, it prevents an agonist binding to the receptor bit does not cause a transduction mechanism in itself, but prevents cellular change.
Define affinity.
How many drug-receptor complexes are formed.
Define efficacy.
The maximum response achieved by a dose.
Define specificity.
Influenced by affinity and efficacy. How specific is a particular drug for activating/inhibiting a particular receptor? (no drug is truly specific – as the concentration is increased it will exert other actions).
What is the dissociation constant, Kd?
The KD is the concentration of the drug that occupies 50% of the receptors. Lower the KD and the higher the affinity.
Kd = [D][R] / [DR]
What is the receptor occupancy equation?
Proportion of receptors occupied, P.
P = [D] / [D] + Kd
How can receptor binding be measured?
Can use radiolabelled drug to measure binding in a tissue: for example. H3, C14, S35, I125, P32. Incubate tissue with different concentrations of drug, measure how much binds to the tissue.
Describe a P - [D] curve.
- Rectangular hyperbola
- Rt, total number of receptors is asymptote on y-axis
- Kd can be found by drawing axis at the curve at P=0.5
Distinguish linear and semi-log P-[D] graphs.
Greater sensitivity on log graph, making it more accurate
What are the 2 parameters that determine the ability of an agonist to produce a pharmacological effect?
- Binding of drug to receptor, determined by affinity
- Following binding, activation of et receptors and production of response, determined by efficacy – how well a drug will activate a drug-receptor complex.
What is non-linear response with occupancy?
Steps are likely to amplify the signal several fold, with the EC50 value to the left of the Kd.
Define EC50.
Effective concentration 50. The concentration of drug that gives 50% of the maximum response.
How do agonists and antagonists differ in efficacy?
Agonists have the same efficacy and produce a response. Antagonists have no efficacy and bind to the receptor but do not produce a response. Different agonists have different levels of efficacy.
Separation is less between curves of response and occupancy for different agonists, as they have different efficacies.
Explain how magnitude of response is not proportional to receptor occupancy due to receptor reserve.
- Some agonists produce a maximum response with only a very low occupancy, such agonists have high efficacy.
- The greater the efficacy, the bigger the separation between KD and EC50.
- The receptor reserve will vary between different agonists that act at the same receptor.
- KD / EC50 gives a rough measure of the reserve
- Weak agonists have low efficacy and have an EC50 close to the KD. DR complex is mostly DR(inactive) form
- Strong agonists have high efficacy, where the KD is much greater than the EC50. DR complex is mostly DR* form
- If KD gives a rough measure of the reserve, if efficacy is lowered, EC50 gets larger and reduces receptor reserve. The concentration-response curve moves to the right.
When does a response-concentration graph shift right?
Lowered efficacy
Lowered number of receptors