Basic Pharmacology Principles | Week 1

what is generic name and what are the characteristics?

1. a common and standardized name derived from the more complex chemical name

2. not capitalized, is the name of all of that drugs regardless of the brand name (e.g., acetaminophen, cetirizine, diphenhydramine)

what is the brand name and what are the characteristics?

1. a trade name established by the producer of the medications

2. capitlized (acetaminophen → Tylenol, cetirizine → Zyrtec, diphenhydramide → Benadryl)

what is bioequivalent in term of pharmacology?

the principle that a generic medication would include the (1) same active ingredient and that the generic medication would have the (2) same rate and extent of absorption while producing the (3) same therapeutic effects as the brand name counterpart

what is pharmaceutical equivalent in term of pharmacology?

the prinnciple that a medication whether generic or brand name must (1) contain the same type and amount of active ingredients, (2) same dosage form (e.g., capsule, solid pill, syrup, etc), (3) same strength, and (4) same route of administration (e.g., enteral, parenteral, etc)

what is therapeutic equivalent in term of pharmacology?

basically pharmaceutical equivalent + bioequivalent

• pharmaceutical equivalent = same type/amount of active ingredient, same form, same strength, and same route

• bioequivalent = same active ingredients, same rate and extent of absorption, and same therapeutic effects

what is biosimilar in term of pharmacology?

a biological medicine highly similar to another already approved biological medicine (both are similar in structure)

differences between enteral and parenteral route of administration and what are some of the examples?

1. enteral - administration of medications that uses the gastrointestinal (GI) tract

   → oral

   → sublingual

   → buccal

   → rectal

   → feeding tube

2. parenteral - administration of medications that bypass the gastrointestinal tract - only reserved for the injection-based route of administration

   → intravenous (IV)
   → intramuscular (IM)

   → subcutaneous

   → intradermal

what are other route of administration that is not enteral or parenteral?

1. inhalation

2. topical

3. otic

4. ophthalmic

what does the acronym LADME stand for in pharmacology and a short description for each?

1. Liberation - the breakdown of the medications - drug is released from its dosage form

2. Absorption - process where a drug is transferred from site of entry to circulating fluid

3. Distribution - transport of drug through the entire body

4. Metabolism - process of body inactiviting drugs

5. Excretion - process of body eliminating the drugs from our system whether that be through excretion, pee, or internal metabolism.

what is half-life in term of pharmacology? what are some factors that impact half life

the time required for 50% of the medication to be eliminated from the body

factors impacting half life of medication

1. age

2. genetics

3. health conditions (kidney or liver disease can delay drug metabolism - heart failure can impact the drug distribution and 

what are factors that can influence liberation?

1. whether or not if the medication have an enteric coating (does not dissolve in the stomach but rather in the intestine)

2. the route of administration (e.g., IV will allow for faster entry and breakdown of dosage form as it is administred directly in the bloodstream)

3. acidity of stomach (if given oral)

4. nutritional state (depending on the drug, a meal can increase, decrease, or have no effect, on the breakdown of the medication

5. motility of GI tract

what are some factors that can influence absorption?

1. hydration (dehydration can cause the medication to take longer to be absorbed)

2. body composition (e.g., fat mass) (a weightlifter body will take longer to absorp the medication compared to a frail old man)

3. metabolsim rate

4. blood flow

5. GI content/nutritional status

6. age

7. genetic

what are the factors that influence distribution of medication throughout the body?

1. blood flow

2. chemical properties

what is a therapeutic index?

a number range between the minimum effective concentration of a medication and the level where the medications would be toxic

what does it mean when a medication have a high therapeutic index?

when a medication have a high therapeutic index, the mediacation is lower risk and is generally safer as the range between the minium effectiveness and the toxicity level is large so there is less chance of making an error

what does it mean when a medication have a lw therapeutic infex?

the medication is higher risk because the range to which the concentration of the medication need to be for it to start working and the concentration to which the medication will become toxic is very narrow which would open less room for errors

what is an agonist medication?

a type of medications that activate a receptor in the body

what is an antagonist medication?

a type of medication that block a recaptor in the body

what is a partial agonist medication?

a medication that perform the function of both agonist and antagonist

a medication with a shorter half-life have a ___________ elimination

faster

what are some of the patient-specific factors that influence a medication’s half-life?

1. age

2. blood circulation

3. diet

4. hydration status

5. kidney function

6. liver function

7. obesity

8. gender

9. history of drug use

10. Presence of drugs that compete for binding sites or interact in other ways

11. genetic

for these type of questions - kind of critically think about how each factors might affects a medication’s half life and pick those answer

drug A has a half-life of 2 hours, if the initial plasma level of the drug is 1200 mg/L, what will its plasma level be after 8 hours?

75 mg/L

drug Z has a half-life of 8 hours, if the initial plasma level is 4800 mg/L, how many hours will it take for the plasma level to reach 180 mg/L?

about 40 hours

drug X has a half0life of 8 hours, if 800 mg is administered at 0100, hoq much of the drug would be eliminated after 24 hours?

700 mg of the drugs would be eliminated after 24 hours

true or false: increasing the amount of medication would slow down the onset of action for a medications

false; increasing the amount of medication can fastern the onset of action for the medication

what is peak action in term of pharmacology?

time of greatest amount of therapeutic effects

what is the duration of action in term of pharmacology?

how long did the medications last?

what is adverse reaction (ADR) in term of pharmacology?

a response to a drug that is noxious and unintended and which occurs at doses normally used in man for prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy of disease (e.g., itching, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, etc)

prophylaxis

action done to prevent the disease

what is an allergic reaction in term of pharmacology?

1. also known as hypersensitivity

2. reaction occur when patient is exposed to a drug, develops antibodies, and hen there is reexposed to drugs and has a reaction

what is the difference between adverse reaction (ADR) and allergic reaction?

adverse reaction (ADR) is symptoms that might occur due to intake of the medication but is usually not life-threatening and is unintended while allergic reaction is symptoms that occur due to the body’s hypersenstivity and can be life threatening

what is the additive effect in term of pharmacology?

using multiple medication with similar effects will increase the effect (the combined effect of two or more drugs acting together is exactly equal to the sum of their individual effects) (e.g., taking aspirin and acetaminophen together for added pain relief)

what is the synergistic effect in term of pharmacology?

using a medication and consuming something that would add onto the effect (e.g., taking a drowsy medication while also consuming alcohol)

what is the antagonistic effect in term of pharmacology?

taking a medication to counter the adverse effects of another medications (e.g., taking antiobiotic with birth control as antibiotic increase the likel