Pharmacology and Toxicology

Define "drug" and "drug target site" List the 4 main categories of drug target site Explain specificity and its relation to structure activity relationships Explain the link between drug dosage and effect, relating it to toxicity Explain how affinity and efficacy relate to the drug-receptor interaction Differentiate full and partial agonists Interpret log-dose response curves to a specific agonist in the presence of a competitive antagonist and an irreversible antagonist and explain the differen

List major routes by which drugs are administered & give advantages and disadvantages Identify factors that affect drug passage across membranes determining drug distribution Identify the routes and biochemistry of Phase 1 and Phase 2 metabolism Explain how drug action can be terminated, and identify the principal routes routes of drug metabolism & excretion Define: first-pass metabolism, enterohepatic circulation, drug half-life, apparent volume of distribution, bioavailability, drug clearance.

Predict how lipid solubility of alcohol and cannabis will influence distribution Calculate amount of alcohol administered within specific doses and predict likely bioavailability for each dose Compare and contrast how alcohol and cannabis are absorbed and distributed throughout the body Compare and contrast alcohol and cannabis metabolism and evaluate how active metabolites contribute to drug effect

Identify potential drug targets for alcohol & cannabis and discuss the difficulties associated with predicting these drugs' effect on the brain Evaluate how the major toxic effects associated with alcohol & cannabis are produced and discuss the comparative toxicity of the two drugs

Predict how administrative route of cocaine and nicotine influences the speed of onset of CNS effects Explain how the metabolism of cocaine and nicotine contribute to their addictive potential

Explain how cocaine can influence catecholamine reuptake proteins & establish changes in drug receptor interactions Utilise HH equation to predict localisation of cocaine at lipid membranes and explain how this relates to local anaesthetic effects Identify nicotine's drug target and distinguish between its autonomic and somatic NS actions Compare and contrast the stimulating ability of cocaine and nicotine Compare and contrast the cardiovascular toxicity of cocaine and nicotine