Topic 12 - Pharmacology

Question 1

Define pharmacology

Answer 1

The study of drug action

Question 2

Define antimicrobial agent

Answer 2

A drug for treating an infection

Question 3

Define a chemotherapeutic agent

Answer 3

• A drug that acts against a particular disease (eg: antibiotics, insulin, anti-cancer)

Question 4

What is Paul Ehrlich known for?

Answer 4

He had the idea of a “magic bullet” (a chemical compound that would kill a pathogen and not harm the host)

Question 5

What drug did Paul Ehrlich co-discover?

Answer 5

Salvarsan (the first antibacterial drug), a cure for syphilis. It wasn’t the perfect drug as it contained arsenic

Question 6

What are sulfonamides?

Answer 6

• Cured by stretococcal infections (by injection)
• Still in use today, although mostly replaced by penicillins
• Interferes with folic acid metabolism in Gram + bacteria

Question 7

Who was alexander fleming?

Answer 7

• Treated pts with syphylis with Salvarsan
• Worked in inoculation department
• In 1928, his experiments were contaminated by the mould Peniciullum notatum

Question 8

Alexander fleming grew what on one plate?

Answer 8

Staph and pen G

Question 9

Selective toxicity is..

Answer 9

Key to a good antimicrobial agent

ie. we want to kill the microbe, not the host

Question 10

Most Drugs
Less Drugs
Fewer Drugs

Answer 10

Bacteria
Fungi, Protozoa, Parasites
Viruses

Question 11

What are the 5 things drug targets (bacterial)

Answer 11

A. Cell wall 
B. Cell membranes 
C. Protein Synthesis (translation)
D. Nucleic acids 
E. Folic Acid metabolism

Question 12

What does penicillin inhibit?

Answer 12

Peptidoglycan synthesis

Question 13

What does Isoniazid inhibit?

Answer 13

Synthesis of mycolic acid

Question 14

Where is mycolic acid found?

Answer 14

In cell walls of bacteria such as mycobacterium tuberculosis that stain acid fast

Question 15

What does polymyxin do? (cell membrane)

Answer 15

Polymyxin targets specific lipids in the outer membrane of gram (-) bacteria

Question 16

What do macrolides and tetracyclines bind to? (protein synthesis)

Answer 16

Specifically to prokaryotic ribosomes

Question 17

What does the ribosome do?

Answer 17

It uses mRNA to make proteins

Question 18

Where do macrolides bind on the prokaryote?

Answer 18

50S of the prokaryote and it blocks protein synthesis

Question 19

Where do tetracyclines bind on the prokaryote?

Answer 19

30S of the prokaryote and it blocks protein synthesis

Question 20

Where does streptomycin bind on the prokaryote?

Answer 20

30S of the prokayote and it blocks protein synthesis

Question 21

What does fluoroquinolones inhibit? (Nucleic Acids)

Answer 21

DNA topoisomerase during DNA replication

Question 22

What does sulfonamide inhibit?

Answer 22

Production of folate (folic acid)

Question 23

Where is folic acid synthesized?

Answer 23

It is synthesized in bacteria, not humans

Question 24

What are the two tests for testing for ABX resistance in bacteria?

Answer 24

• Disc diffusion test

- MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration) test

Question 25

What test shows the zone of inhibition?

Answer 25

Disc diffusion test (it has discs of different ABX)

Question 26

What do antiviral drugs target?

Answer 26

Target enzymes that are specific

Question 27

Give an example of how antiviral drugs target enzymes?

Answer 27

Inhibit the replication of genetic material or protein processing and assembly

Question 28

What is acyclovir used for?

Answer 28

Some DNA viruses (mostly for herpes virus infections)

Question 29

What type of drug is acyclovir?

Answer 29

Antiviral (one of the most commonly used)

Question 30

What does acyclovir inhibit?

Answer 30

viral DNA polymerase (not host polymerase)

Question 31

What are the two antiviral drugs (Neuraminidase Inhibitors)

Answer 31

• Tamiflu

- Relenza

Question 32

What do Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (RTIs) do? (Drug Targets of Viruses)

Answer 32

Inhibit reverse transcriptase (eg. HIV) (an enzyme unique to retroviruses)

Question 33

What do Protease Inhibitors do?

Answer 33

Inhibit viral proteases (eg. HIV, hepatitis C) (an enzyme unique to viruses)

Question 34

What are the 5 steps of viral protease?

Answer 34

1. When virus starts reproducing it makes one long polypeptide
2. Protease cuts at specific sites
3. Shorter polypeptides fold into viral proteins
4. Virus assembles
5. When virus starts reproducing it makes one long polypeptide

Question 35

What does ergosterol do?

Answer 35

It helps regulate membrane permeability and fluidity

Question 36

What does Azoles inhibit?

Answer 36

Inhibits manufacture of ergosterole (a lipid unique to fungi and some protists)

Question 37

What is Quinine effective against?

Answer 37

Malaria

Question 38

What does Quinine interfere with?

Answer 38

Plasmodiums ability to metabolize hemoglobin

Question 39

What does flagyl do?

Answer 39

• Chemically converted by an enzyme unique to some protists and anaerobic bacteria
• The chemical product damages DNA

Question 40

What are things to consider with chemotherapeutic agents?

Answer 40

• Route of Administration
• Safety/Side effects (toxicity & allergies, disruption of normal flora)
• Cost

Question 41

What does mebendazole block?

Answer 41

Microtubule formation and inhibits uptake of glucose

Question 42

What may an anti-helminthes drug cause?

Answer 42

Paralysis of intestinal worms (they are unable to ‘hang on’)