A summary of my lecture notes on pharmacology principles. It provides the basic pharmacology knowledge that can be applied to all lectures, which come up in almost all exams.
Pharmacology principles-in lots of detail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tobx537kFaI&ab_channel=SpeedPharmacology
Define pharmacodynamics.
- The drug’s effect on the body.
- A drug binds to a receptor and causes a cellular change to cause a biological effect.
- “pharmakon” =drug
- “logia” =the study of
- vs pharmacokinetics is what the body does to the drug (the other way around)
When a drug enters the body
- it interacts/binds to its target.
- usually on the cell membrane.
- functional groups on the drug can alter the types of interactions a drug can have with its
target.
Types of interaction: van der Waal, dipole-dipole, ionic and covalent.
- stronger the interaction the harder it is for the drug to dissociate from its target.
Altered drugs with the same name
- e.g., noradrenaline and adrenaline
- typically, they have a similar structure just an altered conformation or a different functional
group.
- one might bind to its target more likely than another depending on the different
interactions formed.
Affinity=degree of attraction or binding strength. Determined by chemical structure and its
complimentary shape.
Efficacy=degree of response. It’s the ability of the drug to form a pharmacological response.
Ability to elicit the desired effect. E.g., full vs partial agonists.
Receptor Selectivity
Refers to the ability of a drug to interact specifically with a target receptor.
It is desirable in therapeutic interventions because:
Specificity=target specific receptors or signalling pathways. E.g., target a certain
disease or condition. Minimise unwanted side effects.
Efficacy: helps maximise the potency and efficacy of the drug. Selecting target
receptors can have a more potent effect on one drug. Whereas if you used a broader
drug targeting multiple receptors, it would have a less potent effect due to a lower
EC5O.
Safety: avoids interactions and enhances the safety profile of a drug. We can
minimise adverse reactions.
There are 4 types of receptors that a drug can bind to:
, Ligand-gated channel receptor
- ligand is a molecule or an ion
- this binds to the ligand binding site
- causing a conformational change
- when bound the channel briefly opens so some ions will pass through.
For example: acetylcholine binding to a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
G protein
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