Stimulants 1 Flashcards
Name some widely stimulant drugs
- caffeine
- nicotine
- cocaine
What kind of state do Stimulant containing plants create in the body?
create a state of well being, self-confidence, increase alertness, and mental functioning, alleviate fatigue and drowsiness
How are the peripheral organs affected when using stimulants?
- the MAY be affected
- increased heart rate, blood pressure, etc
What continued use of stimulants lead to?
- may lead to increased agitation, apprehension, and anxiety
- addiction is common with some stimulants
Stimulant Mechanism of Action
- increases activity of sympathetic nervous system
- stimulant plants can be organized based on their compound’s mechanism of action (cholinergic, adrenergic, purinergic)
Describe Neuronal Synapse
- chemical and electrical signals are received by the dendrites
- information is transmitted down the axon by an action potential
- neurons are organized into pathways and transfer information at synapses
- chemical and electrical signals leave the neuron from the terminal bulb
What does the Central nervous system consist of?
spinal cord and brain
Purpose of CNS
the CNS receives and processes information from the environment and relays it back to the peripheral nervous system to create an appropriate response
PNS - somatic branch
consciously controlled
- movement, respiration, posture
- skeletal muscle contraction
PNS - autonomic branch
unconsciously controlled
- cardiac action, blood flow, digestion, etc
- divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic systems
Where do parasympathetic projections originate from? What response does it control?
- originate from cranial nerves, sacral portion of the spinal cord
- breed or feed response
Where do sympathetic projections originate from? What response does it control?
- originate from thoracic and lumbar portions of the spinal cord
- fight or flight response
Pharmacokinetics
an organism’s normal body systems relate to how rapidly and how long a drug will appear at target organ
- absorption of drug
- distribution of drug in the body
- elimination or clearance of drug from the body
- these factors determine the appropriate concentration, route of admin, or dose of drug that is to be given
Pharmacodynamics
- the nature of the drug/target interaction is essential in determining the dose of a specific drug that is to be given
- dose response curves determine how drugs interact with specific drugs
Analogs
drugs that resemble endogenous chemicals and can bind to cellular receptors
Morphine
- is a structural mimic (analog) of an endorphin molecule and binds to the same receptor
- because morphine also elicits a pain relieving response through receptor activation, it is labeled as an agonist at the endorphin receptor
What is the final effect of a drug based on?
- how much makes it to the target
- how the action of the drug at the target leads to an outcome
Describe the interaction of drug with receptor
- agonist or antagonist (or mixed)
- may bind better or worse than endogenous molecules
Possible outcome of drug/receptor interaction
- activation of neuronal action potentials
- activation of signaling pathways
Neurotransmitters
- chemicals used to relay, amplify, and modulate signals between cells
- synthesized in presynaptic neurons
- released in response to action potentials
- elicit physiological effects depending on which receptor they bind to and activate
Agonist
activates the receptor to produce a biological response
Antagonist
blocks or dampens a biological response by binding to and blocking a receptor
The three types of Synapses
- cholinergic synapse
- adrenergic synapse
- purinergic synapse
Cholinergic Synapse
- produce and release ACh
- receptor: nicotinic and mucarinic
adrenergic synapse
- produce and release catecholamines (e.g., norepinephrine, dopamine)
- receptors: alpha and beta adrenergic receptors and dompamine
Purinergic Synpapse
- release urine nucleotides or nucleosides (e.g., adenosine or ATP)
- P1 and P2 recpetors
Pilocarpine
- a cholinergic agonist
- treatment for glaucoma and dry mouth
- imidazole alkaloid
- native to Brazil
- first recorded medicinal use in 1648
-The concentrations of pilocarpine can reach up to an avg of ~1.0% of the leaf dry mass (range 0.2% -2.2)
Physostigmine
- a cholinergic agonist
- treatment for glaucoma
- Calabar bean (alkaloid, native to Western Africa)
- Manicheel Tree ( native to south america, “little apple of death”
- all parts of the tree contain toxins
- standing beneath the tree during rain will cause blistering of the for contact with any tree sap
Galantamine
- a cholinergic agonist
- treatment for Alzheimers
- galanthus nivalis - Caucasian Snowdrop
- alkaloid
- found across Europe and the middle east
- grown in gardens as an ornamental
Cocaine
- adrener
