OVERVIEW

The course of General Pharmacology is intended to provide students with the basic knowledge of the drug and, in particular, of the interactions that occurs between chemicals and the living organism and that determine the therapeutic effects but also toxicological events.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Learning outcomes will be a basic knowledge about: i) drug pharmacokinetic: absorption and distribution of drug in the body; drug metabolism; excretion); ii) general pharmacodynamics: targets and mechanism of drug action; dose-response curve; agonists and antagonists; biochemical and physiological drug effects and their molecular mechanism; iii) individual variations and side-effects.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course provides basic knowledge on a) drug pharmacokinetic properties:  rate of absorption; distribution of drugs in the body; drug metabolism and excretion; b) basic pharmacodynamic concepts: targets and mechanisms of drug action; dose-response curve; biochemical and physiological drug effects and their molecular mechanism; c) individual variation in drug response and side-effects.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching methods used will be the carrying out of lectures with in-depth analysis of the program. Therefore, the frequency of lessons is recommended.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Essential lexicon in Pharmacology: active substances (drugs; medicinal preparations; medicinal herbs; placebo), drug classes.

Pharmacological Disciplines: general and cellular pharmacology; pharmacognosy; clinical pharmacology; pharmacoeconomics; pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics; pharmacovigilance; chemotherapy; toxicology.

Drug discovery and development. Generic and orphan drugs.

Mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect: target and action of the drug not mediated by receptors, affinity and potency, receptor occupancy and competition, agonist and antagonist, allosteric modulator, partial agonist, inverse agonist

Receptors and modulation of their response. Receptor classification, pathway and signalling transduction: intracellular/nuclear receptors; membrane receptors (ionotropic and G-protein coupled receptors); receptor trafficking;   receptor responses (desensitization and sensitization); drug modulation of receptor responses.

Ionotropic receptors. Tissue and subcellular distribution; molecular organization; classification (glutamatergic ionotropic receptors and GABAA); localization of binding site; channel structure; modulation of the ionotropic receptor; drug and their mechanisms of action.

G-protein coupled receptors. Molecular organization and mechanism of action; signal transduction pathways involving the G protein-coupled receptors (the cAMP signal pathway and the phosphatidylinositol signal pathway).

Basic Pharmacodynamics: quantification of drug-receptor interactions and responses; Affinity, Potency and Efficacy; Drug-receptor binding site equilibrium.

Basic Pharmacokinetics: Absorption and routes of drug administration: rate of absorption; partition-coefficient; drug dissolution; extension, permeability and vascularization of absorption surface; enteral routes (oral, sublingual, rectal); parenteral systemic routes (intravascular, intramuscular; cutaneous); other routes (inhalation, transdermal, transmucosal, intracavity). Absorption kinetics. Drug delivery.

Drug distribution and elimination: the apparent distribution volume; drug binding to plasma proteins; free and bound drug concentration; relevant parameters in drug distribution. Elimination and the concept of half-life; renal excretion and clearance; hepatic excretion and enterohepatic cycle.

Drug metabolism: enzymatic systems and phase I and II modifications (cytochrome P450; oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis; methylation; sulphation; acetylation; glucuronidation; conjugation with amino acids or glutathione).

Individual variation in the drug response. Tolerance. Side-effects. Idiosyncratic and allergic reactions.  Drug dependency.

General Anesthetics; Agents for control of gastric Acidity and treatment of peptic ulcers. Biotechnological drugs.

Principles of Toxicology. Cellular toxicity pathways. Free radicals. teratogenesis and foetal toxicity. Glutamatergic Excitotoxicity and Hypoxia in the central nervous system.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Golan DE e altri - Principi di Farmacologia – Casa Editrice Ambrosiana

Rang HP, Dale MM, RitterJM, Flower RJ - Farmacologia - Ed. Elsevier Masson

Howland RD, Mycek MJ – Le basi della farmacologia – Ed Zanichelli

Notes of Lessons

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

CHIARA CERVETTO (President)

LAURA VERGANI (President)

ELENA GRASSELLI

MANUELA MARCOLI

LESSONS

LESSONS START

II semester

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The evaluation of the student relative to the course in Pharmacology can only take place at the same time as the one relating to the General Physiology.  Only in case of positive results for both evaluations the examination of the Teaching will be passed.

To assess student’s achievement of learning, the examination will be an oral exam (30 minutes per course), always in presence of the Commission consisting of at least of two professors (or sometimes in presence of a professor and an expert subject designated by the CCS). 

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The Commission will verify the achievement of educational objectives with high accuracy collecting information about the nature and extent of learning outcomes, capacity as well as connection and reasoning within topics of the Course. When the educational objectives will be not achieved, the Student will be invited to verify better the knowledge and possibly to use supplemental explanations contacting the professor.

FURTHER INFORMATION

By appointment