Pharmacology- Intro to Drug Action

Question 1

Pharmacodynamics

Answer 1

What a drug does to the body ie biological effects and mechanism of action

Question 2

pharmacokinetics

Answer 2

What the body does to a drug ie ADME

Question 3

Define drug

Answer 3

Any single synthetic, or natural, substance of known structure used in the treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of disease.
can be everyday or illicit substances

Question 4

Define a medicine

Answer 4

A chemical preparation containing one, or more, drugs used with the intention of causing a therapeutic effect. Medicines usually include agents additional to the active drug

Question 5

What makes a drug useful as a therapeutic agent?

Answer 5

It must act with a degree of selectivity

Question 6

Selectivity

Answer 6

The ability of a drug to distinguish between different molecular targets in the body

Question 7

Main targets for drugs

Answer 7

• enzymes
• carrier molecules ie transporters and pump
• ion channels
• receptors
• RNA
• DNA

Question 8

Receptors

Answer 8

Macromolecules on/ within cells which mediate biological actions of hormones, nt and other endogenous substances

Question 9

Agonists

Answer 9

drugs which bind to a receptor, producing a cellular response

possess affinity and efficacy

eg adrenaline

Question 10

Antagonists

Answer 10

drugs which reduce/ block the action of agonists by binding the same receptor

possess affinity but lack efficacy

beta blockers

Question 11

Affinity

Answer 11

strength of association between a ligand and receptor

Binding step

Question 12

Efficacy

Answer 12

an agonist’s ability to evoke a cellular response

Activation step

Question 13

Specificity

Answer 13

absolute drug selectivity

Question 14

Relationship between agonist concentration and receptor occupancy

Answer 14

hyperbolic ie agonist conc and the fraction of receptors occupied in a population increase correspondingly

Question 15

Linear relationship between concentration/ dose and effect

Answer 15

hyperbolic

Question 16

Semi-logarithmic relationship between concentration/ dose and effect

Answer 16

Sigmoidal

Question 17

EC50

Answer 17

concentration of agonist which elicits a half maximal effect

Question 18

Effect of competitive antagonists on concentration curve

Answer 18

parallel rightward shift

maximum change remains unchanged

Question 19

Effect of non-competitive antagonists on concentration curve

Answer 19

depress slope and maximum response

do not cause rightward shift

Question 20

Effect of increasing competitive antagonists on concentration curve

Answer 20

Progressive rightward shift of agonist concentration response curve on concentration axis, but no depression of slope, or maximum response

Question 21

Effect of increasing non-competitive antagonists on concentration curve

Answer 21

Progressive depression of maximum response and slope, but no shift of agonist concentration response curve on the concentration axis

Question 22

receptors are mostly which type of molecule?

Answer 22

protein macromolecules

Question 23

do partial agonists have a lower or higher efficacy than full agonists?

Answer 23

Partial agonists have a lower efficacy than full agonists