Pharmocology

Question 1

what is a drug?

Answer 1

a single chemical substance, that can be one of the constituents of a medicine - producing a physiological affect

Question 2

what is a medicine?

Answer 2

a chemical preparation that contains one or more active constituents (drugs) together with additives with the intent of eliciting a therapeutic effect

Question 3

what is physiological communication?

Answer 3

signals that get a response from the body

Question 4

what is pharmacodynamics?

Answer 4

what the drug does to the body

Question 5

what is a voltage sensitive (gated ion channel)?

Answer 5

the impulse arrives and open the channel to allow the ions to pass through (requires the impulse to open the gate)

Question 6

what is a receptor?

Answer 6

a specific protein capable of binding to a specific group of drugs or endogenous substances

Question 7

what is a ligand?

Answer 7

a substance that binds to a receptor

may normally be found in the body (endogenous) or may enter the body from outside (exogenous)

Question 8

what does the term endogenous mean?

Answer 8

in the body

Question 9

what does the term exogenous mean?

Answer 9

enters the body from outside

Question 10

explain a ligand gated ion channel

Answer 10

the ligand binds to its binding site which opens up the the gate/channel allows the ion to move through (no impulse needed)

Question 11

explain high and low affinity

Answer 11

receptors bind to substances by weak bond. (+ to - and - to +).

Question 12

explain the two different types of antagonists

Answer 12

competitive and non-competitive
competitive - competes against agonist for the same binding site
non-competitive - binds to another site than the binding site

Question 13

what are the two different types of agonists??

Answer 13

full and partial
full - produce a maximal response
partial - produce a sub-maximal response

Question 14

what is an agonist?

Answer 14

drugs with high affinity and high intrinsic activity. stimulate an action in the body

Question 15

what is an antagonist?

Answer 15

drugs with high affinity but no intrinsic activity (blocks the action in the body)

Question 16

name the two internal (via gut) routes of drug administration

Answer 16

oral and rectal

Question 17

name some parental (avoid the gut) routes of drug administration

Answer 17

buccal, sublingual, transdermal, intramuscular/subcut injections, epidural

Question 18

what is pharmacokinetics?

Answer 18

what the body does to the drug

Question 19

what is the therapeutic index?

Answer 19

balance of the benefits and the risks.
a measure of the margin of safety of a drug
relationship between a drugs therapeutic and toxic affect

Question 20

name the four stages of drug disposition

Answer 20

absorption > distribution > metabolism > excretion (ADME)

Question 21

explain absorption (ADME)

Answer 21

lipid soluble compounds can traverse across a membrane, but water soluble compounds cannot (they require a ion transport protein - for help across)

Question 22

explain distribution (ADME)

Answer 22

the amount of drug in body tissues, fluid or spaces.

movement of a drug between the blood pas lama and tissues, occurs until eh drug reaches equilibrium

Question 23

explain metabolism (ADME)

Answer 23

drugs may undergo: phase 1 alone, or phase 2 alone. aim is to make the drug water soluble

Question 24

explain excretion (ADME)

Answer 24

drugs are eliminated from the plasma in 3 ways:
redistribution
liver metabolism
renal excretion
e.g bile from the liver, in urine from the kidneys or via the lungs, saliva or hair