Designing Drugs for the Better

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS OF SUBSTANCES

Victoria Hargan BA Psychology Substance Abuse and the Criminal Justice System

How drugs move through the body

The route of administration is probably the most significant factor in the speed of drug action(Woodrow 2000).

Each route produces a different degree of absorption, reaction to speed of the drugs action, and side effects.

The route of administration is like the route of travel that the drug takes.

Depending on the drug it may be a choice of how quickly the drug takes effect, the cheapest or safest way to take a drug.

How drugs move through the body

Some medications may have only one route of administration; if the drug is given via a different route rapid absorption may occur and toxicity from the drug may result (Woodrow) When a doctor prescribes medication he prescribes it in the best route for the patients condition. However drug abusers may use a drug that is meant to be in the form of a tablet taken orally, instead they may administer the drug via another route (e.g. crush it up and snort it) for a quicker more intense high. This can be extremely dangerous.

Routes of Administration
GI tract routes Oral (PO) Naso-gastric tube (NG) Rectal (R) Parenteral routes, which include any other that the gastrointestinal tract. Sublingual-SL (under the tongue) or Buccal (in the cheek) Injection routes Intravenous (IV) Intramuscular (IM) Subcutaneous (SC) Intradermal (ID) Intracardiac, intraspinal, intracapsular Topical Dermal Mucosal Inhalation

Routes of Administration
The following list rank-orders common routes of administration, from the fastest to the slowest:

Inhalation transporting the drug into the body through the lungs Intravenous injection transporting the drug into the body through veins Intramuscular injection transporting the into the body through muscles Subcutaneous injection transporting the drug into the body from under the skin Sublingual transporting the drug into the body from
Intranasal snorting transporting the drug into the body through the sinuses Oral swallowing the drug, in the form of a pill Rectal inserting the drug into the rectum Transdermal transporting the drug into the body through the skin

An effective approach to reducing a drugs potential for abuse is to slow down the rate of absorption by changing the route of administration. The slower the drug enters the body, and the brain, the less likely the drug will be abused (Argosy 2009).

ABSORPTION

Absorption refers to the movement of drug molecules from the site of entry to the site of action (Dowieko).

The oral method of drug administration is generally recognized as one of the slowest methods by which a drug can be admitted into the body (Dowieko).
There are many factors that play in the role of absorption of a drug. For example if a drug is consumed with or without food. As a general rule the best absorption of a drug occurs when it is taken on an empty stomach; however there are exceptions (Dowieko). When abusers develop a tolerance, they look for additional routes of administration in order to produce a more quicker high, and stronger effect.

BIOAVAILABILITY
Achieving the desired effect is what drug abusers live for. In order to work, the drugs being used must enter the body in sufficient strength to achieve the desired effect. Snorting a drug absorbs more rapidly than going through the GI tract. Pharmacists call this bioavailability. The bioavailability of a chemical in the body is influenced by factors of absorption, distribution, and biotrasformation, and elimination (Benet et al., 1995; Jenkins, 2007).

DISTRIBUTION
Distribution refers to how drugs move through the body. After a drug enters the body, regardless of route, it moves from an area of high concentration, the place where it is administered and absorbed, to an area of low concentration, which, initially, means everywhere in the body. Later, the drug is evenly distributed (Argosy 2009).

DISTRIBUTION
Factors that may effect drug distribution include:

Sex- males have more muscle mass than females. Females have more fat cells than men. Drugs can be deposited into fat cells, thus giving a more concentrated effect. Muscle/adipose-(fat tissue) ratio Blood flow The amount of water in different parts of the body State of hydration Age (DeVane, 2004; Jenkins & Cone, 1998).

Half Life
What is a Half Life?

The period of time a drug exerts an effect is referred to as its half-life. Half-life is the time it takes for approximately half of the active drug to be broken down. Although it may seem inherently contradictory, the faster a drug is broken down, or metabolized in the system, the higher is the risk for its compulsive use (Argosy 2009). Drugs with short half-lives have higher rates of abuse compared with similar drugs with longer half-lives (Argosy 2009). Drugs can leave the body through a number of routes, most drugs are destroyed in the liver by specific liver enzymes called hepatocytes (Argosy 2009). People with liver disorders have a difficult time breaking down drugs; therefore, they have higher concentrations of drugs in their bodies for longer periods of time, magnifying the side effects and toxicity (Argosy 2009).

Blood-brain barrier
The brain is a finely tuned electrochemical organ whose function can be severely disturbed by the introduction of certain kinds of chemicals. Fortunately, there is a mechanism that impedes the passage of many toxic substances from the blood into the brain: the BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER. This barrier is a consequence of the special structure of cerebral blood vessels. (Pinel 2006) The degree to which psychoactive drugs influence psychological processes depends on the ease with which they penetrate the blood brain barrier.

Elimination

Most drugs are eliminated by the liver. The liver then begins to metabolize the drug/s. Drugs can be eliminated through the lipid (fat) membranes such as the urine, sweat, feces, and breath.

Designing Drugs for the Better

In order to design a drug to help reduce the effects of drugs becoming addictive, scientists need to come up with a way to bypass the blood brain barrier. This is virtually impossible. Nearly all psychoactive drugs are able to penetrate the blood brain barrier. We need many of these drugs in order to help patients with mental illness, and other conditions, including pain management. Drugs that penetrate the bbb are needed for many medical purposes. Further medical and psychological research will needs to be done before we can come to alternatives to the bio-chemistry of drug abuse.

Designing Drugs for the Better

Designing drugs that will avoid toxic or rapid absorption through another route of administration (e.g. from oral tablet to crushing it and injecting it) could help alleviate drug abuse. If scientists could find a way to design a drug no matter what route of administration, the results would be the same; discouraging the drug abuser from trying other routes of administration in order to get high.

References
Argosy University www.myeclassonline.com Pinel, J., (2006). Biopsychology (6th Ed). Boston. Pearson Education. Doweiko, H.E., (2006) Concepts of Chemical Dependency. Belmont. Brooks/Cole Woodrow, R., (2000). Essentials of Pharmacology for health ocupations (4th Ed). Boston. Thomson Publishing