SBI242 Week 1 - Introduction to Pharmacology and Pharmacodynamics

The study of the effects of drugs on living organisms

What is Pharmacology?

Any substance that can alter physiological function or mood

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), what is a 'drug'?

Harm

Medications have the potential to cause what?

Drug dosage, route of administration, potential side effects, and contraindications

What are some things one must know to safely administer or dispense a drug?

The amount of drug required to produce a specific effect

What is drug potency?

Ability of a drug to target a specific biological process or receptor subtype

What is drug selectivity?

Ability of a drug to bind to a specific target

What is drug specificity?

hemical structure and solubility

What are the physical aspects of drugs?

Organic molecules

What type of molecules are the vast majority of drugs?

Plants, animals, microorganisms, synthetic compounds

What are some origins of drugs?

Discovery, Preclinical, Clinical trials, Regulatory approval, and Post-marketing surveillance

What are the stages of drug development?

A research study testing medical treatments or devices on humans

What is a clinical trial?

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs)

What is the 'gold standard' of clinical trials?

Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4

What are the 4 phases of clinical trials?

Regulation of therapeutic goods, including medicines and medical devices

What does the Therapeutic Goods Act govern?

Handling, storage, supply, and use of medicines, poisons, and therapeutic goods

What does Medicines, Poisons and dangerous goods Act regulate?

Medicines and poisons into schedules based on risk

What does The Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP) classify?

Laws and penalties related to controlled substances in the Northern Territory

What does Misuse of Drugs Act (NT) stipulate?

A medication that can be purchased without a prescription

What is a non-prescription or over-the-counter(OTC) drug?

Scheduling classifications for medicines and poisons

What does The Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons (SUSMP) contain?

Substances not specifically scheduled, often available for general sale

What are unscheduled drugs?

A medication that can be purchased from a pharmacy without a prescription, but requires pharmacist intervention or advice

What is a Schedule 3 Pharmacist Only Medicine?

A medication that can be purchased from a pharmacy without a prescription, but with pharmacist guidance

What is a Schedule 2 Pharmacy Medicine?

A medication that requires a prescription from a licensed healthcare professional

What is a Schedule 4 Prescription Only Medicine or Prescription Animal Remedy?

A substance with moderate toxicity or risk, requiring caution

What is a Schedule 5 Caution?

A substance that is considered toxic and requires caution

What is a Schedule 6 Poison?

A substance that requires special precautions and handling due to high risk

What is a Schedule 7 Dangerous Poison?

A substance with potential for abuse and strict controls

What is a Schedule 8 Controlled Drug?

A substance prohibited due to abuse potential or risk

What is a Schedule 9 Prohibited Substances?

A substance prohibited due to high risk or danger

What is a Schedule 10?

A medication developed for a rare disease or condition

What is an orphan drug?

Therapeutic Goods Administration

What is the TGA?

A to X

What does the 'Australian categorisation of risk of drug use in pregnancy' from the TGA range from?

To achieve the most effective treatment with minimal harm

What is the foundation and chief purpose of pharmacotherapy?

The judicious use of medicines to achieve optimal health outcomes

What is Quality Use of Medicines (QUM)?

Using the best available research evidence to guide medical decisions

What is evidence-based medicine?

The study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs and their mechanisms of action

What is Pharmacodynamics?

Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME)

What processes influence drug concentration?

The ability of a drug to bind to and affect only one specific target

What does 'Drug Specificity' refer to?

A drug's ability to target a specific molecular site, minimizing effects on other sites

What does 'Drug Selectivity' refer to?

Hydrogen bonding, ionic or hydrophobic interactions, van der Waals forces, and covalent interactions

What interactions influence the binding of a drug to its molecular target?

The site at which a drug binds

What is a molecular target (or site of action)?

Enzymes, receptors, ion channels, and transporters

Name the four main types of protein targets for drugs:

Move molecules across lipid membranes

What do transporters do?

Same direction across the membrane

What direction do symporters transport molecules?

Opposite directions across the membrane

What direction do antiporters transport molecules?

Pores in cell membranes that allow selective ion passage

What are ion channels?

Biological catalysts that control biochemical reactions within the cell

What are enzymes?

Proteins that bind to specific ligands, triggering a cellular response

What are receptors?

G-protein-coupled receptors, ligand-gated ion channels, kinase receptors, and nuclear receptors

List the four types of receptors:

G protein-coupled receptors

What are GPCRs?

A signaling pathway where a molecule relays signals from a receptor to intracellular targets

What is a second messenger system?

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate, Cyclic guanosine monophosphate and Phosphoinositides

Name three types of second messengers.

An decrease in receptor response over time

What is Desensitization?

Downregulation

A decrease in receptor number:

An increase in the number of receptors

What is Upregulation?

Mimic or inhibit normal endogenous molecules

What do clinically used drugs generally do?

A molecule that binds to a receptor and produces a response

What is a receptor agonist?

Block or dampen the action of a receptor

What do receptor antagonists do?

Temporarily compete with agonists for the active binding site on the receptor

What do reversible competitive antagonists do?

Permanently bind to the active site of a receptor

What do irreversible competitive antagonists do?

Bind to a distinct site on the receptor, reducing its activity

What do non-competitive antagonists do?

Bind to a site other than the active site, altering receptor activity

What do allosteric modulators do?

Dose-response curve

How is the concentration–response relationship depicted?

The maximum response achievable from a drug

What is Emax?

The dose of drug that produces 50% of the maximum effect

What is EC50?

The dose of drug required to produce a specific effect

What is potency?

The maximum response achievable from a drug

What is Efficacy?

The molecular target or site of action

The site at which a drug binds is called:

The strength of the interaction between a drug and its molecular target

The affinity of a drug relates to:

Semi-permeable membrane

Which of the following is NOT a molecular drug target:

A symporter

If molecules are transported in the same direction, the transporter is called:

Only allow the passage of ions from a compartment containing a higher concentration of ions to a compartment containing a lower concentration

Ion channels:

Receptors

The largest and most diverse type of molecular drug target are:

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)

Which of the following are Type 2 receptors?

It allows an external stimulus to to be communicated from the exterior of the cell to
the respective response elements within the cell

What is the mechanism of action of a second messenger?

Diminished responsiveness after repeated exposure to the same concentration of
the drug that stimulates the receptor

Tachyphylaxis is:

A drug that binds to the orthosteric site or the allosteric site of the receptor and
activates the receptor

A receptor agonist:

Can be overcome by increasing the concentration of the agonist

The action of a reversible competitive antagonists:

How much drug or chemical is required to have an effect

The potency of a drug refers to:

An increased dose of the beta 2 agonist

A drug is given to a patient to manage their medical condition. The drug is classed as a
beta 2 receptor agonist. In order for the beta 2 receptor agonist to still be effective in the
presence of a competitive beta 2 antagonist, the patient would need:

Cyclic AMP

An example of a second messenger is:

The country of manufacture

Which of the following is NOT necessary to know in order to safely
administer a drug?

The narrowness of a drug's range of actions on particular receptors

The selectivity of a drug refers to:

The relationship between the drug and the number of receptors it affects

The specificity of a drug refers to:

Phase 3

Full-scale randomized, (double blind) controlled clinical trials occur in which phase of
clinical trials?

Misuse of Drugs Act (NT)

An example of STATE legislation pertaining to the control of drugs is:

May be purchased without a prescription

An over-the-counter drug refers to:

Vitamins

An example of an unscheduled drug is:

Is stored away from the public and only accessible through a pharmacist, doctor,
dentist or vet

A schedule 3 drug:

Is only available via a prescription

A schedule 4 drug:

A controlled drug

According to the SUSMP a schedule 8 drug:

Methyl amphetamine

An example of a prohibited substance is:

Has a high risk of permanent fetal damage and should not be used in pregnancy

A drug that has been classes as a category x drug in pregnancy:

Right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, right route, right
documentation

The six ‘rights’ of safe medication administration refers to:

Only allow the passage of ions from a compartment containing a higher concentration of ions to a compartment containing a lower concentration

Which of the following statements about ion channels is true?