Pharmacology Chapter 1 - Drug Therapy: Roles, Regulations, Actions, and Responses

Vocabulary-style flashcards defining core pharmacology terms, administration routes, drug classifications, dynamics, kinetics, and foundational genetics.

Drug

Any small molecule that changes a body function by working at the chemical and cell levels.

Drug therapy

A treatment plan that includes drugs to prevent, correct, or reduce health problems.

Intrinsic drugs

Chemicals that the body naturally makes on its own.

Extrinsic drugs

Drugs originating outside the body that must be taken in to change cell, organ, or body action.

Pharmacology

The study of drugs and how they work within the body.

Intended action

The desired effect or specific reason for which a drug is prescribed to improve body function.

Side effects

Minor effects of a drug on body cells or tissues that were not the intended action.

Off-label use

The practice of using a prescribed drug for conditions other than its official intended action.

Chemical name

The exact drug name used by chemists who develop and manufacture the drug.

Generic name

The drug name used by pharmacists, prescribers, nurses, and other health care professionals, written with a lowercase first letter.

Brand name

The drug name created by the manufacturer, written with the first letter capitalized and followed by ® or TM.

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs

Drugs considered safe for self-medication that do not require a prescription but may interact with prescription drugs.

Prescription drugs

Drugs available only from a pharmacy with an official drug order written by an authorized prescriber.

High-alert drugs

Drugs that carry an increased risk for causing severe patient harm if used in error.

United States Pharmacopeia (USP)

An organization that develops official manufacturing standards, purity, strength, packaging, and labeling for drugs.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

The federal agency that enforces the drug standards established by the United States Pharmacopeia.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

The agency with which all healthcare prescribers must register and obtain a specific DEA number.

Pharmacodynamics

The study of the mechanism of action and exact cellular ways in which a drug changes body function.

Mechanism of action

The precise process of exactly how a drug changes cell activity.

Target tissues

The actual cells or tissues affected by a drug's mechanism of action.

Receptor agonists

Drugs that bind to specific cellular receptors and turn on cell activity, acting like the right key to turn on a cell's ignition.

Receptor antagonists

Drugs that bind to and block cell receptors so intrinsic drugs cannot bind with them.

Adverse effect

A harmful side effect or adverse drug reaction that can cause serious health problems.

Black box warning

A warning printed on package insert sheets bordered in black, alerting that a drug could cause serious or life-threatening effects.

Anaphylaxis

A severe allergic response that can rapidly lead to vascular collapse, shock, and death.

Idiosyncratic response

A unique personal response to a drug that is specific to an individual patient and unrelated to the mechanism of action.

Pharmacokinetics

The study of how the body exerts its effects on a drug through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.

Minimum effective concentration

The lowest blood drug level required to cause the drug's intended action.

Steady state

A balanced state where drug entry into the body is equal to drug elimination.

Duration of action

The length of time a drug remains at or above its minimum effective concentration.

Potency

The strength of a drug, defined as the dose required for effectiveness.

Absorption

The movement of a drug from outside of the body into the bloodstream.

Bioavailability

The actual percentage or amount of an administered drug that reaches the blood.

Percutaneous route

A drug administration route through the skin or mucous membranes, which includes transdermal delivery.

Enteral route

A drug administration route via the gastrointestinal tract.

Parenteral route

A drug administration route where drugs are injected into body tissues, cavities, or blood vessels.

Routes of Drug Administration

Medical abbreviations designating routes of drug delivery, such as PO (orally), IV (intravenous), IM (intramuscular), SC (subcutaneous), SL (sublingual), and TD (transdermal).

Distribution

The extent to which a drug spreads into body compartments, specifically the bloodstream, interstitial space, and intracellular space.

Elimination

The inactivation and removal of a drug from the body, primarily performed via the intestinal tract, kidneys, and lungs.

Renal Drug Elimination

The primary pathway by which water-soluble drugs dissolved in blood leave the body in urine, involving filtration, reabsorption, and secretion.

Half-life

The time needed for the body to eliminate half of an administered drug dose.

Loading dose

A larger initial dose given for drugs with longer half-lives to rapidly achieve effective blood levels.

Peak blood level

The maximum concentration level of a drug in the bloodstream.

Trough blood level

The lowest or minimal drug concentration level present in the bloodstream.

Pleiotropy

A genetic phenomenon where a single gene or mutation influences multiple phenotypic traits.

Polygenic Inheritance

A genetic pattern where multiple genes interact to influence a single phenotypic trait.

Pleiotropy vs Polygenic Inheritance

A distinction in genetics where Pleiotropy involves one gene affecting multiple traits, whereas Polygenic Inheritance involves multiple genes determining a single trait.

CRISPR

An acronym standing for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, used in genetic repair, modification, and analysis.