Quiz 1 Flashcards
What is Psychopharmacology?
The study of how drugs interact with the brain and their effects on behaviour.
What legal drug is lethal upon contact in it’s purest form?
Nicotine
Which 2 drugs, 1 legal & 1 illegal, both work identically?
Morphine & heroin
What legal OTC medication can cause life-threatening liver failure when paired with alcohol?
Tylenol
What legal OTC medication shares categorical properties with Ketamine & PCP?
Robotussin
A compound to treat heart problems has been derived from what plant?
Foxglove (causes heart failure as a plant)
T/F: Substances derived from natural sources are safer.
FALSE!
What is a drug?
A non-nutritive substance that is taken into the body and produces a specific change by binding to a receptor or target site.
Interaction between receptor and drugs is called ____
Drug Action
What is alcohol classified as?
Food, it is energy-giving.
Name 1 CNS stimulant
(any of) amphetamine, cocaine, nicotine
Name 1 CNS depressant
(there are many) Alcohol, barbituates
Name 1 analgesic
(opiates of all kinds) morphine, codeine
Name 1 hallucinogen
Mescaline (norepinergic), LSD (synthetic), psilocybin (magic mushrooms)
What is a psychotherapeutic drug?
General category for drugs used to treat mental illness (prozac, thorazine)
What is an example of a semisynthetic form of opium?
(any of) Heroin, hydromorphone, oxycodone, etorphine
What is an example of a synthetic form of opium?
(any of) Pentazocine, meperidine, fentanyl, methadone, LAAM, propoxyphene
What is an example of an endogenous (made within the body) opioid?
Enkephalins, endorphins, dynorphins
How does a drug move through the body (4 steps)?
- Administration
- Absorption/distribution
- Binding
- Metabolism/elimination
What are some common ways to administer drugs?
Oral (p.o.), Rectal/vaginal (suppositories), Inhalation, Oral-nasal mucosal, Topical (creams, etc.), Parenteral injection (outside or around digestive tract), Intravenous (IV), Intramuscular (IM), Subcutaneous, Intraperitoneal, Epidural, Intracerebroventricular (research/surgical use)
T/F: The method of administration has no relation to how absorption or distribution will carry out.
FALSE!
If an individual would like their drug effects to begin rapidly, how/where would they administer?
Closer to left side of heart = faster to brain, inhalation is fastest
What factors influence absorption?
Drug chemistry (solubility/ability to penetrate membranes), First Pass Effect (metabolism/liver), Bound Vs. Free drug, Individual differences in physiology
How might a drug be distributed?
Have to cross at least 1 selective barrier; may have to bind to carrier proteins in blood; May be sequestered in “depots” (not active sites, may be released at a later time); many require conversion to be lipid-soluble
The blood brain barrier’s capillaries:
are almost impermeable, surrounded by astrocytes, require carrier-mediated or lipid-solubility for substances to cross
What is induction (liver)?
Drug makes liver produce more enzymes
What is inhibition (liver)?
Enzyme needed to metabolize drug is blocked
Which family of enzymes all seem to have a role in drug metabolism?
Cytochrome P450
What is biotransformation?
Getting things out of the body. As liver metabolises, drugs turned into water soluble form to pass through Bowman’s capsule and kidneys for excretion
What is a half life?
t1/2 - the time it takes for half of the drug to be distributed or eliminated