CHAPTER 1: PHARMACOLOGY : AN INTRODUCTION

Drug Sources
 Plants
 Animals: we get hormones, antibiotics from bacteria
 Most today from chemical synthesis
Terminology
 Drug: a substance that produces a change in function when administered to a living
organism
 Therapeutic Effect: the drug’s intended effect
o Referred to as drug indication
o Contraindication: the situation or circumstance when the drug should not be used
 Side Effect: effect other than therapeutic effect that is undesirable but usually not harmful
 Adverse Effect: undesired effects that may be harmful
 Toxic Effect: extremely harmful or deadly
 Undesired effects often a result of dosage
Basic Concepts of Pharmacology
 Site of Action: location in the body where the drug exerts its therapeutic effect
 Mechanism of Action: how a drug produces its effects
 Receptor Site: cellular structure the drug binds to and produces a physiologic effect
 Agonist: drug that binds to a specific receptor and produces a drug action
 Antagonist (blocking drug): bind to a specific receptor and inhibits agonist drug action or
cellular functions
o Competitive antagonism: when agonist and antagonist fight for receptor at the
same time
Dose-Response Curve
 Dose: exact amount of drug administered to produce a specific effect, effect = response
 Response is proportional to dose
 Maximal response = 100% response
o Ceiling effect: point above which a great response isn’t possible

 Potency: strength or concentration required to produce specific effect

o ED50: dose that will produce an effect that is ½ of the maximal response
Time-Plasma Drug Concentration Curve
 Duration of action: length of time the drug continues to produce its effect

 Used to predict frequency with which the drug has to be administered to maintain effect
response
Drug Safety
 To be approved by FDA, a drug must show effectiveness and safety
 LD50: the dose that will kill 50% of the animals tested
 Therapeutic Index: TI = LD50/ED50
o Only used in testing process to establish doses for other testing procedures
Adverse Drug Effects
 Higher the dose = greater chance for adverse effects
 Teratogens: drugs that produce birth defects
 Carcinogens: promote growth of cancer tumors
 Idiosyncrasy: when an individual has an unusual reaction to a drug (dose independent)
o Drug allergy: when a drug acts as an antigen in a certain person, body produces
antibodies to counter it
o Anaphylaxis: serious allergic reaction