Introduction to pharmacology lecture for MBBS students reference - TRIPATHI

1. INTRODUCTION TO
PHARMACOLOGY

2. CONTENTS
• History of pharmacology
• Nature of drugs
• Sources of drugs
• Drug nomenclature

3. INTRODUCTION
• Pharmacology - Pharmacon - Drug; Logos - Discourse in
• Drug - It is the single active chemical entity present in a medicine that is used for diagnosis,
prevention, treatment/cure of a disease.
• The WHO definition - “Drug is any substance or product that is used or is intended to be used to
modify or explore physiological systems or pathological states for the benefit of the recipient.”

4. JOURNEY THROUGH
AGES

5. For thousands of years most drugs were crude natural products of
unknown composition and limited efficacy.

6. • To understand the physiological process
animal experiments were started in the
18th century
• Francois Magendie & Claude Bernard
adapted animal experiments to study
effects of certain drugs.
• Rudolf Buchheim founded the first
institute of pharmacology in 1847 in
Germany.

7. FOUNDING FATHERS
• Oswald Schmiedeberg was regarded as the 'Father Of Pharmacology',
• In the 19 th century he published many fundamental concepts in pharmacology
with his many disciples like John Langley, T Frazer, Paul Ehrlich, AJ Clark,
John Jacob Abel who also individually published NOBEL PRIZE winning
discoveries.
• Sir Ram Nath Chopra was given the title ‘Indian Father Of Pharmacology’
for his contributions to introduce the world of pharmacology to India

9. NATURE OF DRUGS

11. SOURCES OF DRUGS

13. PLANTS
• Oldest source of drugs.
• Through traditional systems of
medicine like Ayurveda, Chinese,
Egyptian, Greek clues about medicinal
plants were obtained.
• Chemically the active ingredients of
plants fall in to several categories

14. ACTIVE INGREDIENTS
• ALKALOIDS : Alkaline nitrogenous bases with potent activity
• Ex. Morphine, Atropine, Ephedrine, Nicotine
Ephedra Viridis Nicotiana Tabacum
Atropa Belladona
Papaver Somniferum

15. ACTIVE INGREDIENTS
• GLYCOSIDES : A heterocyclic nonsugar moiety + sugar moiety
• Ex. Cardiac Glycosides - Digoxin, Ouabain
Digitalis Lanata Stropanthus Gratus

16. ACTIVE INGREDIENTS
• OILS - vicious, inflammable liquids
which are insoluble in water.
• Fixed (nonvolatile) oils - calorie
yielding triglycerides of higher fatty
acids mostly used for food and
emoluments
• Ex. Ground nut oil, Coconut Oil,
Sesame oil, Castor oil (purgative)

17. Cont.
• Essential (volatile) oils - Obtained from
flowers or leaves through steam
distillation and is used as carminatives,
counterirritants and astringents.
• Ex. Eucalyptus oil (myalgia), Clove oil
(dental pain)
• Menthol, Camphor and Thymol are
volatile oils which are solids at room
temperature.

18. ANIMALS
• During late 19 th century and early 20
th century animal products were
introduced into medicine.
• Few of these products have
revolutionised the field of medicine and
pharmacology and in turn lead to be
the reason behind a million lives
saved.
• Ex. Adrenaline, Thyroxine, Insulin,
Antisera, Vaccines.
Frederick Banting & Charles Best

19. MICROBES
• Most antibiotics are synthesised from
fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria.
• Ex. Penicillin, Tetracycline,
Erythromycin
Penicillium Notatum

20. MINERALS
Calcium Salts Lithium Carbonate Magnesium Hydroxide

21. SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY
• After its entry in the 19 th century it is now
the largest source of medicines.
• Over the traditional sources synthetic drugs
have an advantage of purity and uniformity
of the product.
• They can be manufactured without limitation
of raw material unlike drugs from natural
sources, thereby replacing them.
• Ex. Atropine substitutes, Synthetic
Glucocorticoids.

22. SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY
• Many drugs are being synthesized for a novel type of activity like targeting specific
biomolecules.
• Ex. ACE inhibitors, HIV- reverse transcriptase inhibitors
• Synthetic drugs can be chiral and can be produced as a single active enantiomer
products which are therapeutically superior than their counter parts.

23. BIOTECHNOLOGY
• Drugs in the form of peptides and proteins are synthesised from recombinant DNA technology
• Ex. Human Insulin, Human Growth Hormone, Interferon etc.
• Newer drugs from biotechnological origin - Monoclonal Antibodies, Regulatory peptides,
Erythropoietin.
• A rapidly expanding branch of Protein Therapeutics where specifically designed and customised
proteins are being produced is the latest in the field.

24. DRUG NOMENCLATURE

25. CHEMICAL NAME
• Describes the
substance chemically
• Example : 1-
(Isopropylamino)-3-
(1-naphthyloxy)
propan-2-ol for
propranolol.
NON -
PROPRIETARY
NAME
• Name accepted by a
competent scientific
body or authority.
• Like USAN (US
Adopted Name), BAN
(British Aproved
Name)
• Example :
Lidocaine/Lignocaine
PROPRIETARY
(BRAND) NAME
• Name assigned by
manufacturer.
• Trade mark is given
• Example :
Amlodipine -
Amlosav/Amlocor/St
amlo / Amlopin

26. THANK YOU