Unit 2 terminology Flashcards
Define: Biotransformation
Chemical changes that occur to a drug when it is in the body that usually results in it’s breakdown
Define: Clearance
The process by which a drug is removed from the blood stream by metabolism or excretion
Define: Drug microsomal metabolizing system
Enzymes located in smooth endo-plasmic reticulum that are important in drug biotransformation
Define: Half Life
Time required to eliminate 50% of drug in the body
Define: Metabolite
The compound formed when a drug under goes some form of metabolic process
Define: Adenylate cyclase
An enzyme on the inner surface of many cells important in mediating biochemical changes in the cell in response to medication
Define: Affinity
The attraction between a medication and its receptor cell
Define: Agonist
a drug that binds to a receptor and causes some change
Define: Allosteric modulators
Bind to a cell and change the cells affinity for a drug
Define: Antagonist
A drug that binds to a receptor but does not cause a change in cell activity
Define: Cyclic adenosine monophosphate
Ring-shaped conformation of adenosine monophosphate, important second messenger in mediating the intracellular response to drug stimulation.
Define: Desensitization
A brief and transient decrease in the responsiveness of cellular receptors to drug effects
Define: Down regulation
Decrease in sensitivity or receptors in response to over stimulatio
Define: Gamma-aminobutyric acid
inhibitory neurotransmitter in brain and spinal cord
Define: G protein
proteins that bind with guanine nucleotides and regulate cell activity
