Pharmacology Flashcards
What is pharmacokinetics?
What the body does to the drug
What is pharmacodynamics?
What the drug does to the body
What is the pathway of the drug?
Drug at the site of administration
Absorption
Distribution
Metabolism
Elimination
What are the routes of drug administration?
Intravascular (directly into the blood)
Extravascular (oral, sublingual, subcutaneous, intramuscular, rectal)
Other (inhalation, intranasal, topical, transdermal)
Which drugs act systematically?
Those given extravascularly
What are the advantages of giving drugs orally?
Easy, practical, reliable (most lily to be complied to by patients)
Why are most drugs absorbed in the small intestine?
Large surface area due to microvilli so easier absorption especially compared to stomach.
Where are oral drugs dissolved?
In the GI tract, by GI fluids, absorbed through epithelial lining and enters blood vessels
What happens if the time in the GI tract changes?
Any condition that changes the passage time of the drug in the GI tract will change the quantity of absorption
Which conditions change the quantity of absorption of oral drugs?
Diarrhea and vomiting will cause drugs to be excreted much faster, so absorption and the effect will be less.
What is the first-pass metabolism?
Some drugs may be extensively metabolised in the liver or in the intestinal mucosa before reaching the system circulation
What is the effect of first-pass metabolism?
Reduced concentration or activity of the drug
When a drug is absorbed in the GI tract where does it go to next?
Portal circulation
What is the sublingual method of administration usually for?
Usually anginatic conditions
What kind of drugs are taken sublingually?
Drugs that would be broken down by the acid of the stomach
What are the advantages of sublingual drugs?
Good absorption through capillary bed under tongue
Self-administered
Why do intravenous drugs have a rapid onset of action?
The drug is injected directly into the bloodstream, avoids GI tract and first-pass metabolism by liver
In which cases are intravenous drugs useful?
Emergencies or when patients are unconscious
What other administration also has a rapid onset of action? Why?
Inhalation Rapid delivery of drug across a large surface area of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and pulmonary epithelia
What drugs are given through inhalation?
Gases (aesthetics) or those dispersed in an aerosol (asthma drugs)
Why is the inhalation route effective?
Drug is delivered directly to site of action and system side effects are minimised
What are the advantages of rectal administration?
Partially bypasses the first-pass effect
Bypass destruction by stomach acid
Ideal if the drug causes vomiting
What are some membranes that drugs need to pass in order to reach their target?
Gastrointestinal mucosa (orally)
Lung mucose (inhalation)
Lymphatic or capillary walls
Cell membrane (intracellular targets)
How do most drugs pass across membranes?
Passive diffusion
What are some factors influencing absorption?
pH (unionized drugs pass more readily)
Blood flow
Total surface area
Contact time (if drug moves too fast, it cannot by absorbed)
Expression of P-glycoproteins
What are P-glycoproteins?
Transmembrane transporter protein, responsible for transporting molecules across membranes
What happens if there is a high expression of p-glycoproteins ?
Efflux pump
Which form of acidic drugs is unionised?
Protonated
Are protonated forms of basic drugs unionised or ionised?
Ionised
Which kind of molecules can diffuse across membrane, ionised or non?
Unionised, they are lipid soluble
Why can’t ionised molecules pass through the membrane?
Low lipid solubility
What is the Henderson - Hasselbalch equation?
pH = pKa + log10 (A- / HA)
What is the Henderson - Hasselbalch equation used for?
Determine the ratio of unionized to ionised
Determine degree of ionisation at specific pH
What does a lower pKa value indicate?
Stronger acid
If pH = pKa ?
pH = pKa then 50% ionised and 50% unionised
What happens if pH < pKa ?
Higher degree of ionisation for weak bases so weak acids will be absorbed more readily
What happens if pH > pKa?
Higher degree of ionisation for weak acids so weak bases would be absorbed more readily
What is bioavailability?
Extent to which administered drug reaches the system circulation intact
How to calculate bioavailability?
Compare plasma levels of drug after a particular route to levels achieved by intravenous administration of the same dose (which is 100%)