psychopharm Flashcards
DNA
Nature vs Nurture
Deoxyribonucleic acid
- Molecule
- Located in cell nucleus and organelles
- Basis for inherited features
Gene
- Unit of hereditary information coding for a specific phenotypic trait
Major Depression (Neuron Communication)
Medications can treat by:
-
Increasing synthesis of dopamine
- L-dopa (Parkinson’s treatment)
-
Decreasing breakdown of dopamine
- MAO inhibitors
-
Decreasing recycling of serotonin
- SSRIs
Carbohydrates
Major use:
- Source of fuel for living
- Energy storage
Makes up most organic matter on earth
Provides structural backbone for DNA and RNA
Monosaccharides
- Simple sugars
- Glucose, fructose
Disaccharides
- Double sugars
- Sucrose (table sugar)
- Lactose (milk sugar)
Both taste sweet
Polysaccharides:
- Long chains of simple sugars
- Not sweet to taste
- Glycogen
- Starch
- Storages of excess glucose
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Deficit in phenylalanine hydroxylase
Impaired conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine
High levels of phenylalanine in blood
- Abnormal CNS development
- Severe mental retardation by 1 year
Treatment: limit phenylalanine ingestion
Neurotransmitters (Major Players)
Monoamines:
- Indolamines
- Serotonin: 5HT
- Catacholamines
- Dopamine: DA
- Norepinephrine: NE
- epinephrine
Acetylcholine: ACh
- Nicotinic receptors
- Muscarinic receptors
Amino Acids:
- Gamma-amino-buteryic acid
- Most common inhibitory
- Glutamate
- Most common excitatory
- Glycine
Neuropeptides:
- Endorphins
- Substance P
- Enkephlins
We are because of physiology
- There is nothing we can do, think, feel, emote, move, that does not depend on an electrical-chemical reaction
- Srtive for homeastasis
Lipids/fats/oils
Hydrophobic
- Insoluble in water
Hydrophilic
- Soluble in water
Lipophobic
- Insoluble in oil
Lipophilic
- Loves fat
Fats contain energy stored in numerous carbon bonds
Triglycerides
- Glycerol bonded to three fatty acid chains
Unsaturated fat
- Omega-3
- Omega-6
Phospholipid bilayer membrane
- Proteins and cholesterol supply structural stability to membrane
DNA (Human genome & heritablity)
Genome:
- 46 chromosomes
- 22 autosomal
- 1 sex linked
- XX = female
- XY = male
- 3 billion base pairs
Heritablity:
Bipolar I
- Nearly 50% of identified cases
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Nearly 50%
Schizophrenia
- Heritability increases as number of biological relatives have disorder
- 80% if both parents express schizophrenia
Neuron Communication
Axons:
- Send messages
Dendrites:
- Receive messages
- Excitatory
- Inhibitory
Soma:
- Synthesizing and energizing
Communication:
- Synapse
- Synaptic gap
- Pre-synaptic
- membrane
- Post-synaptic membrane
- Second messenger system
Polarity (why we need water)
- Partial charge separation
- Water molecule is polar:
- Its O-H bonds are significantly polar
- Its bent geometry makes the distribution of those polar bonds asymmetrical.
- The side containing the more electronegative oxygen atom is partially negative
- The side containing the less electronegative hydrogen atoms is partially positive
Liver (enzyme)
Critical for metabolism of nutrients
Increased serum levels of liver enzymes indicate
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Active viral hepatitis (A, B, C)
- Drug-induced hepatitis
Example:
Alcohol dehydrogenase
Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase
- Antabuse inactivates ALD
- Causes nausea because of higher levels of acetic acid
Ethyl alcohol metabolism
- Genetic differences
- Females have less alcohol dehydrogenase in digestive system
- Metabolize alcohol slower
- Racial differences
- 50% of Chinese and Japanese have less activeve aldehyde dehydr
Solubility Factors (PASIVE DIFFUSION)
- Move through cell membranes
- Leaves water in blood
- Move from high to lower concentrations
Cytochrome P450
- Proteins with heme group
- Oxidation reactions
- In liver
- Involved in drug metabolism
- Leads to drug-drug interactions
H2O
Fundamental molecule of life
Highly cohesive Polar:
- Forms hydrogen bonds
- Human body is at least 55% water
- Lung tissue is 80% water
Neurons - Cell & Structure
Cell:
- Basic unit of life
- 10 billion neurons in human body
Structure:
-
Cell membrane
- Phospholipid bilayer Nucleus
- Cytoplasm
- Water-soluble proteins
-
Ribosome
- Protein synthesis cite
-
Endoplasmic reticulum
- Lipid and steroid synthesis
-
Mitochondria
- ATP synthesis (energy)