Pharmacology and prescribing Flashcards
(868 cards)
what is the FP10? who can issue them?
a prescription that can be issued by GPs, nurses and pharmacist prescribers, supplementary prescribers or hospital doctors in England
what is the colour of the GP FP10?
green
what is the colour of the FP10D?
yellow, issued by dentists
what is the colour of the FP10MDA?
blue, used for drugs such as methadone
what is the colour of the FP10P, PN, SP, or CN?
purple or green, used by prescribers such as nurses or pharmacists
what should be included on the FP10 prescription?
- prescriber’s signature
- prescriber’s address: practice address, usually already printed on the FP10. contain a number to identify the prescriber.
- date
- patient’s details
- information about the product supplied
what does the patient do with the FP10 and what payment is made?
- can be taken to any chemist/pharmacy in England
- pay a prescription charge for each which is currently £8.60 unless exempt
what are the protein targets for drug action on mammalian cells?
- receptors
- ion channels
- enzymes
- transporters (carrier molecules)
what is colchicine used for? what is the mechanism of its action?
- used to treat arthritic gout attacks
- interacts with the structural protein tubulin
what is an example of an immunosuppressive drug? how do most of them work?
- ciclosporin
- bind to cytosolic proteins known as immunophilins
how can therapeutic antibodies work?
act by sequestering cytokines
what are targets for chemotherapeutic drugs?
- aim is to suppress invading microorganisms or cancer cells
- targets include DNA and cell wall constituents, and other proteins
what are receptors?
sensing elements in the system of chemical communications that coordinates the function of all different body cells and chemical messengers
what are orphan receptors?
the mediator is still unknown
when are endogenous mediators usually discovered?
years before the receptor was characterised pharmacologically and biochemically
how can receptors be characterised? what are examples of receptors that were identified later?
- on basis of pharmacological and molecular characteristics
- cannabinoid and opioid receptors were discovered later
what are ion channels?
gateways in cell membranes that selectively allow the passage of particular ions, and are induced to open or close by many mechanisms
what are types of ion channels?
- ligand gated channels
- voltage gated channels
what are ligand gated channels?
- open only when one or more agonist molecules are bound
- properly classified as receptors, since agonist binding is needed to activate them
what are voltage gated channels?
ion channels which are gated by changes in the transmembrane potential rather than by agonist binding
in what ways can drugs affect ion channel function?
- by binding to the channel protein itself, either to the orthosteric or allosteric sites
- indirect interaction, involving G protein and other intermediaries
- by altering the level of expression of ion channels on the cell surface
what are orthosteric and allosteric sites?
- orthosteric: ligand-binding site of ligand-gated channels
- allosteric: other, non ligand-binding site
what is an example of drug molecules plugging the channel physically?
- action of local anaesthetics on the voltage-gated sodium channel
- drug molecule plugs the channel physically, blocking ion permeation
what are examples of drugs that bind to allosteric sites on the channel protein and thus affect channel gating?
- benzodiazepine tranquilisers: bind to a region of the GABA(a) receptor-chloride channel complex (ligand gated channel) that is distinct from the GABA binding site and facilitates the opening of the channel by GABA
- vasodilator drugs of the dihydropyridine type, which inhibit opening of L-type calcium channels
- sulfonylureas, used in treating diabetes, which act on ATP-gated potassium channels of pancreatic beta cells, enhancing insulin secretion