Pharmacology Flashcards
What is a drug?
A medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested/introduced into the body.
What is druggability?
- the ability of a protein target to bind to small molecules with high affinity
What is a receptor?
A component of a cell that interacts with a specific ligand and initiates a change of biochemical events leading to the ligands observed effects
What is the difference between an exogenous and endogenous ligand?
Exogenous: drugs
Endogenous: hormones/neurotransmitters
What are the 4 drug targets?
- Receptors
- Enzymes
- ion channels
- transporters
What chemicals allow receptors to communicate?
- neurotransmitters e.g. Ach, serotonin
- autacoids: cytokines, histamine
- hormones: testosterone, hydrocortisone
What is the action of competitive inhibitors?
bind at the active site and reversibly reduce efficacy, affinity is unchanged. The action can be overcome by increasing the dose of the agonist. E.g. naloxone for opioid receptors.
What is the action of non competitive inhibitors?
bind away from the active site, irreversibly reducing both efficacy and affinity. E.g. ketamine at the NMDA-glutamate receptor.
What are the 4 types of receptors?
- Ligand gated ion channels
- G protein coupled receptors
- Kinase-linked receptors
- Cytosolic/nuclear receptors
What are ligand gated ion channels?
- Molecule that sits in cell membrane and controls a pore opening and closing
How do G protein coupled receptors work?
- guanine nucleotide-binding proteins- hydrolyse GTP to GDP
- G proteins (GTPases) act as molecular switches
What is the 2 state model?
Drugs activate receptors by inducing or supporting a conformational change in the receptor from off to on
What is the definition of physicochemical?
2 drugs react completely independently of what is happening in the body
What is the definition of pharmacodynamics?
The effect a drug has on the body
What is the definition of pharmacokinetics?
The effect of the body on the drugs
What is an additive drug reaction?
2 drugs that have the same pharmacodynamic effect and the total effect is the sum of the 2. E.g. 2 drugs that cause bp to drop > summative drug reaction. 1 + 1 = 2
What is a synergistic reaction?
when 2 drugs are put together, the effect they have is more than the effects of the individual drugs 1 + 1 > 2
What is an antagonistic reaction?
when 1 drug cancels out the effect of the other drug to give no overall effect. 1 + 1 = 0
what is the potentiation effect?
Give drug A then give drug B. The effect of drug A is increased, the effect of drug B is as expected. 1 + 1 = 1.5 + 1
In which way are most drugs metabolised and excreted?
Hepatically metabolised and renally excreted
What is bioavailability and what is it for IV drugs?
how much of a drug is available over a given time period, 100% for IV
How is gut motility affected by drugs?
Reduced gut motility leads to reduced oral drug absorption
How is drug absorption affected by acidity?
- Drugs are either ionised or unionised
- unionised particles can pass through phospholipid bilayer but ionised can’t
- highly acidic environments form more ionised drugs making them less effective
What is the effect of protein bound drugs?
- No effect
- drugs with lower protein binding affinity will have more effect as there is a greater free concentration in the plasma
What is an adverse drug reaction?
Unwanted or harmful reaction following administration of a drug or combination of drugs under normal conditions of use and is suspected to be related to the drug. Noxious and unintended.
What is the difference between ADRs and side effects?
- Side effects is unintended but can be beneficial
- ADRs are always unpleasant
What is the type of effect of the drug if the dose is beyond, within or below the therapeutic range?
- Toxic effects (beyond)
- Collateral effects (within range)
- Hyper-susceptibility effects (below)
What is a hyper-susceptibility reaction?
- Receiving sub therapeutic range doses
e.g. Anaphylaxis and penicillin
What are some patient risk factors for ADRs?
- gender (more common in women)
- elderly/neonates
- polypharmacy
- genetics
- hypersensitivity
- hepatic/renal problems
- adherence problems
What are some drug risk factors for ADRs?
- steep dose-response curve
- low therapeutic index (small difference between therapeutic and toxic doses)