Test #3 Flashcards
Neuropharmacology
- The study of drugs that alter processes controlled by the nervous system.
- constitutes a large family of important drugs.
- Essientially anything that can control a bodily process such as sneezing, dilation or constriction of blood vessels….Why do I have a snotty nose. Uterus contractions ect.. anything that can be controlled by the brain.
What is located between the Pre-Ganglonic Neuron and the Post-Ganglionic Neuron?
The Ganglian
Nerve endings….nerve cells
What is located at the end of the Post-Ganglonic Neuron?
The Post Ganglionic Nerve Terminal
This is where Neurotransmitters are stored inside vessicles
Where are neurotransmitters released into?
The Synapse
After the neurotransmitters are released into the synapse, what do they do next?
They interact with their target cell specifically at the receptor.
True or False
All we can do is manipulate what God already placed in us, We cannot create new functions.
True
Axonal Conduction in the neuron-
The process of an action potential being delivered down the axon.
It heads down the axon towards the nerve terminals
There is only one class of drugs that effect this and it is local anesthetics
What is an action Potential
it is an electrical process or a burst
Synaptic Transmission
Where information is transferred across the synaptic gap between the neuron and the target cell.
What are the steps in synaptic transmission?
- Transmitter synthesis
- Transmitter Storage (vessicles)
- Transmitter release
- Receptor Binding **
- Termination of Transmission
Transmitter synthesis
Where neurotransmitters are synthesised by precursor molecules.
drugs can increase or decrease or cause production of other neurotransmitters
Potential target for drug therapy.
You can wipe out a neurotransmitter completely by taking away the precursor molecules. The body cannot synthesis the neurotransmitters without the precursor molecules to do so.
Neurotransmitter storage
Once the neurotransmitter is synthesised, it is set to be stored in the vessicles.
If we alter the bodies ability to store neurotransmitters, we could compromise the bodies ability to have a bunch of those cells to be released.
This is another potential target for drug therapy
Neurotrnasmitter release-
After an action potential reaches the post-ganglionic nerve terminal (where neurotransmitters are stored within the vessicles), it will release the neurotransmitter into the synaptic gap.
AP —> down axon to Nerve Terminal —> Release of NT into SG
This is another potential target for drug therapy
Receptor Binding- ***
When a neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic gap, it interacts with specific receptors.
The bodies own natural neurotransmitters are always a reversible binding process.It wont sit on the receptor site forever. It will get on there and get off.
True or False
We can make drugs that are irreversible
True
But they are very rare
True or False
The bodies own natural neurotransmitters are always a reversible binding process.
true
It wont sit on the receptor site forever. It will get on there and get off.
Termination of Transmission
once the neurotransmitter disassociates it has 1 of 3 options:
- It can be recycled- restored and reused
- It can degraded by enzymes
- It can be diffused and float away.
so Recycled, Degraded, Diffused
But there are drugs that can alter this process
Once Acetylcholine Dissassociates from the target cell what happens?
It is degraded by enzymes very quickly
But if we wipe out the enzymes that degrade it by using drug therapy, it will accumulate very quickly and will react with the receptors over and over again.
Drug Effects
Ultimately, the impact of the drug on a neuronally regulated process is dependant on the ability of that drug to directly or inditectly influence receptor activity on target cells
True or false
Every nerve in the body has different axons
False
Every nerve in the body has the SAME axon.
If you created a drug that took out the axon what would result from that?
It would wipe out the whole nervous system because all axons are the same
What is the MOA of a local anesthetic?
It is a temporary axonal inhibitor. It shuts down your entire nervous system in that local area.
examples- xylocaine, anything “caine”
Where does most of the drug therapy target
The synaptic Transmission
What disease state is associated with low levels of norepinephrine and serotonin?
Depression
Agonists
stimulate receptor sites
they look a lot like a neurotransmitter and will elicit a response from the target cell
Antagonists
Block the receptor sites on the target cell
