What are drugs and where do they come from Flashcards
What are the 4 broad classes of protein receptors?
G Protein Coupled Receptors (targeted by highest number of current small molecule drugs)
Ion channels (second most common receptors targeted)
Kinases
Nuclear receptors
What does the “pharmacodynamics” refer to?
What drug does to body
What does the word “pharmacokinetics” refer to?
What body does to drug
What kind of molecules are typically used in pharmacology?
Small molecules. (due to ease and they access the body readily via GI tract)
What are the pros and cons of using small molecule drugs?
Pros:
Easy to prepare by synthetic chemists. (easy to confirm purity and structures are straightforward)
Affordable to make
Easy to copy when patent expires.
Body is accessed easily via oral route.
Cons:
Multiple receptors can be activated leading to unwanted side effects
Drug-drug interactions are more common
Problems with toxicity
Metabolism in liver is often extensive
What are the pros and cons of using biologic drugs?
Pros:
Specific to 1 receptor and rarely subject to DDIs
Metabolism isn’t very extensive
Cons:
Expensive to make
Hard to get into the body
hard to copy when patent expires
Structures are complex so it’s hard to test purity
What are the types of names used in pharmacology?
Chemical name
Generic name
Brand name
What does the chemical name describe?
Chemical structure of the drug and is often complex and not suitable for daily use
What does the generic name describe?
Simplified drug names which have roots and endings that provide clues of which drugs they are.
What does brand name describe?
Invented by marketing division of drug companies
Intended to be marketable
How are new drugs discovered?
Bioprospecting
Disease-model screening
Me-too optimisation
Astute clinical observation
Rational drug design
Irrational high-throughput discovery
What is bioprospecting?
Systematic testing of naturally procured materials for pharmacological activity.
(Many species including sea sponges, microorganisms, and animal venoms are rich in bioactive substances)
25% of current medicines have a natural origin.
What is disease-model screening?
Using animal models of disease and then treating these models with drugs.
What is me-too optimization?
Structurally related molecules created by competing pharmaceutical companies to make a drug have better features over another.
A successful me-too drug will displace original molecule from the market
What is astute clinical observation?
When unexpected effects follow testing of new molecules in humans resulting in therapeutic benefits being discovered. (this is less common nowadays due to better technologies for testing pharmacology of new molecules)
