Week 1 Vocab

Question 1

Chemical name

Answer 1

A drug name that is derived from the specific chemical structure of the compound. Chemical names are not used clinically but are shortened in some way to form the drug’s generic name

Question 2

Controlled substances

Answer 2

Drugs designated by the federal government as having increased potential for abuse and illegal use. These substances are grouped into five categories (schedules), with schedule I substances having the highest abuse potential and schedule V substances having a relatively low potential for abuse.

Question 3

Dose-response curve

Answer 3

The relationship between incremental doses of a drug and the magnitude of the reaction that those doses will cause.

Question 4

Generic name

Answer 4

The name applied to a drug, which is not protected by a trademark; usually a shortened version of the drug’s chemical name (SYN: nonproprietary name).

Question 5

Median effective dose (ED50)

Answer 5

The drug dose that produces a specific therapeutic response in 50 percent of the patients in whom it is tested.

Question 6

Median lethal dose (LD50)

Answer 6

The drug dose that causes death in 50 percent of the experimental animals in which it is tested.

Question 7

Median toxic dose (TD50)

Answer 7

The drug dose that produces a specific adverse (toxic) response in 50 percent of the patients in whom it is tested.

Question 8

Nonproprietary name

Answer 8

A drug name that is usually a shortened version of the drug’s chemical name and is recognized as the standard name for that drug regardless of the drug’s trade or brand names (SYN: generic name).

Question 9

Off-label prescribing

Answer 9

A drug is prescribed to treat conditions other than those approved by the FDA.

Question 10

Orphan drugs

Answer 10

Drugs that are designed and approved to treat rare diseases. Because these drugs are only used in a small patient population (usually less than 200,000 people), financial and other incentives are often provided by various sources to encourage a drug company to develop and market the drug.

Question 11

Over-the-counter drugs (OTC)

Answer 11

Drugs that can be purchased directly by the consumer without a prescription (SYN: nonprescription drugs).

Question 12

Pharmacodynamics

Answer 12

The study of how drugs affect the body—that is, the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of drug action.

Question 13

Pharmacogenetics

Answer 13

The study of the how genetic variability can influence drug responses and metabolism.

Question 14

Pharmacokinetics

Answer 14

The study of how the body handles drugs—that is, the manner in which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted.

Question 15

Pharmacotherapeutics

Answer 15

The study of how drugs are used in the prevention and treatment of disease.

Question 16

Pharmacy

Answer 16

The professional discipline dealing with the preparation and dispensing of medications.

Question 17

Potency

Answer 17

The dose of a drug that produces a given response in a specific amplitude. When two drugs are compared, the more potent drug will produce a given response at a lower dose.

Question 18

Therapeutic Index (TI)

Answer 18

A ratio used to represent the relative safety of a particular drug; the larger the therapeutic index, the safer the drug. It is calculated as the median toxic dose divided by the median effective dose. (In animal trials, the median lethal dose is often substituted for the median toxic dose.)

Question 19

Toxicology

Answer 19

The study of the harmful effects of drugs and other chemicals.

Question 20

Trade name

Answer 20

The name given to a drug by the pharmaceutical company; it is protected by a trademark and used by the company for marketing the drug (SYN: brand name or proprietary name).

Question 21

Bioavailability

Answer 21

The extent to which a drug reaches the systemic circulation following administration by various routes.

Question 22

Buccal

Answer 22

Referring to the cheek. Drugs administered buccally are placed between the cheek and gum and are absorbed into the circulation from the mucosa lining the gums and inner cheek.

Question 23

Enteral Administration

Answer 23

Administration of drugs by way of the alimentary canal.

Question 24

First-pass effect

Answer 24

The phenomenon in which drugs absorbed from the stomach and small intestine must pass through the liver before reaching the systemic circulation. Certain drugs undergo extensive hepatic metabolism because of this first pass through the liver.

Question 25

Intraethical

Answer 25

Administration of substances within a sheath; typically refers to injection into the sub-arachnoid space surrounding the spinal cord.

Question 26

Parental administration

Answer 26

Administration of drugs by routes other than via the alimentary canal: by injection, transdermally, topically, and so on.

Question 27

Proton pump

Answer 27

An enzyme that moves hydrogen ions (protons) across the cell membrane. The gastric proton pump transports hydrogen ions into the stomach; drugs that inhibit this enzyme are known as proton pump inhibitors, and these drugs are used to reduce the formation and effects of excess gastric acid.

Question 28

Sublingual

Answer 28

Under the tongue; drugs administered sublingually are absorbed into the systemic circulation via the venous drainage from underneath the tongue.

Question 29

Volume of distribution (Vd)

Answer 29

A ratio used to estimate the distribution of a drug within the body relative to the total amount of fluid in the body. It is calculated as the amount of drug administered divided by the plasma concentration of the drug.

Question 30

Biotransformation

Answer 30

Biochemical changes that occur to the drug within the body, usually resulting in the breakdown and inactivation of the drug (SYN: drug metabolism).

Question 31

Clearance

Answer 31

The process by which the active form of the drug is removed from the bloodstream by either metabolism or excretion.

Question 32

Drug miscrosomal metabolizing system (DMMS)

Answer 32

A series of enzymes located on the smooth endoplasmic reticulum that are important in catalyzing drug biotransformation.

Question 33

Half-life

Answer 33

The time required to eliminate 50 percent of the drug existing in the body.

Question 34

Metabolite

Answer 34

The compound that is formed when the drug undergoes biotransformation and is chemically altered by some metabolic process.

Question 35

Adenylate cyclase

Answer 35

An enzyme located on the inner surface of many cell membranes; it is important in mediating biochemical changes in the cell in response to drug and hormone stimulation (SYN: adenyl cyclase).

Question 36

Affinity

Answer 36

The mutual attraction between a drug and a specific cellular receptor.

Question 37

Agonist

Answer 37

A drug that binds to a receptor and causes some change in cell function (ANT: antagonist).

Question 38

Allosteric modulators

Answer 38

Substances that bind to a cell receptor and alter the receptor’s affinity for specific drugs; common allosteric modulators include guanine nucleotides, ammonium ions, calcium, and other divalent cations.

Question 39

Antagonist

Answer 39

A drug that binds to a receptor but does not cause a change in cell activity (SYN: blocker).

Question 40

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)

Answer 40

The ring-shaped conformation of adenosine monophosphate, which is important in acting as a second messenger in mediating the intracellular response to drug stimulation.

Question 41

Desensitization

Answer 41

A brief and transient decrease in the responsiveness of cellular receptors to drug effects.

Question 42

Down-regulation

Answer 42

A prolonged decrease in the number and/or sensitivity of drug receptors, usually occur-ring as a compensatory response to overstimulation of the receptor.

Question 43

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

Answer 43

An inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and spinal cord.

Question 44

G proteins

Answer 44

Proteins that bind with guanine nucleotides and regulate cell activity. G proteins often serve as a link between surface receptors and ion channels or intracellular enzymes such as adenylate cyclase.

Question 45

Second messenger

Answer 45

The term applied to compounds formed within the cell, such as cyclic AMP. The second messenger initiates a series of biochemical changes within the cell following stimulation of a receptor on the cell’s outer surface by drugs, hormones, and so on.

Question 46

Selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM)

Answer 46

A drug that activates estrogen receptors on bone and vascular tissue, while blocking estrogen receptors on breast and uterine tissue. These drugs can be used to enhance bone mineralization and to prevent certain cancers