Pharmacology is the study of drugs and how they work in the body. It has two main areas: pharmacokinetics, which studies how the body affects drugs; and pharmacodynamics, which studies how drugs affect the body. Some key examples are that acetylsalicylic acid reduces inflammation through inhibiting an enzyme, penicillin kills bacteria by disrupting cell wall synthesis through another enzyme inhibition, and neuropharmacology examines drug effects on the nervous system.

1. • From the Greek pharmakon (drug), legos (to speak)
• Pharmacology studies the effects of drugs and how they
exert their effects.
• acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) can reduce inflammation, pain
and fever
 inhibit the action of a human cell membrane enzyme
known as cyclooxygenase, which is responsible for the
synthesis of a number of inflammatory mediators
• penicillin cures certain bacterial infections
 disrupt the synthesis of cell walls in susceptible bacterial
strains by inhibiting a key enzyme
Pharmacology

8. Two important and interrelated areas:
 Pharmacokinetics: study of the absorption, distribution,
metabolism and excretion of drugs.
(what the Body does to drug)
 Pharmacodynamics: study of the molecular, biochemical,
and physiology effects of drugs on cellular systems and
their mechanisms of action.
(what the drug does to body)
Pharmacology: defns

9.  Neuropharmacology: study of the effect of drugs on
components of the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, nerves)
 Cardiovascular Pharmacology: study of the
effects of drugs on heart, vasculature, kidney,
nervous and endocrine systems that participate in
cardiovascular function.
Example: treatment of Alzheimer's
Example: treatment of high blood pressure
(hypertension)

10.  Molecular Pharmacology: study of the biochemical and
biophysical characteristics of interactions between
drug molecules and those of the cell
Example: Drug-Receptor Interaction
 Biochemical Pharmacology: study of how drugs act with
and influence the chemical ‘machinery’ of the organism
Example: signal transduction through G proteins

11.  Behavioral Pharmacology: study of the effects of drugs on
behavior
Example: treatment of Attention Deficit Disorders
 Endocrine Pharmacology: study of drugs that are
hormones or hormone derivatives
Example: creation of The Pill

12.  Clinical Pharmacology: application of pharmacodynamics
and pharmacokinetics to patients with disease.
Example: use of pharmacogenomics to tailor individual
medical treatment
 Chemotherapy: study of drugs used for treatment of
microbial/viral infection and malignancies
Example: treatment of cancer through anti-angiogenic
agents such as bevacizumab.
ANTIBODY THERAPY

13. • Drug- a drug is "a chemical substance used in the
treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used
to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.“
• Pharmacotherapeutics - use of drugs to treat disorders;
the emphasis is on clinical management
• Pharmacoepidemiology - study of the effect of drugs on
populations;
• Pharmacoeconomics - study of the cost-effectiveness of
drug treatments; the cost of medications is of worldwide
concern, particularly among certain groups such as the
elderly and AIDS patients

14. • Pharmacokinetics
– study the fate of drugs once ingested and the variability of
drug response in varying patient populations
– how the body absorbs, distributes, metabolizes, and
excretes drugs

15. • Pharmacodynamics
– study the mechanisms by which drugs work
– also study endogenous agents

16. Quiz Yourself
1.Pharmakon
2.Logos
3.Chemotherapy
4.(what the Body does to drug)
Pharmacodynamics
Pharmacokinetics
5.