Introduction

Question 1

Lock-and-key-principle

Accepted Answer

Drugs bind transiently to command-and-control molecules in the body because their molecule structures are complementary. --> Only specific substrates can bind the target molecule (e.g. enzymes)

Question 2

Agonist (Def.)

Accepted Answer

Endogenous substance or drug which initiates a physiological response when combined with a receptor --> Insulin acting on insulin receptors

Question 3

Affinity (Def.)

Accepted Answer

the degree to which a substance tends to combine with another

Question 4

Efficacy (Def.)

Accepted Answer

the ability of an agonist to activate a receptor, therefore producing a response --> intrinsic activity

Question 5

Potency (Def.)

Accepted Answer

Effective dose of a drug to get a response/therapeutic effect --> ED50 = ED needed to produce 50% max response

Question 6

Safety (4 safety terms)

Accepted Answer

S/E - side-effects U/E - unwanted effects A/E - adverse effects ADR - adverse drug reaction Therapeutic Index (Ratio) = compares the blood concentration at which a drug becomes toxic and the concentration at which the drug is effective --> the wider, the better

Question 7

Drug selectivity/specificity

Accepted Answer

Agonists are selective for certain receptors since they have affinity and efficacy for them --> still they often have low affinities for other closely-related receptors what makes them not a 100% specific

Question 8

Selectivity (Def.)

Accepted Answer

the degree to whoch a drug acts on a receptor relative to other receptors

Pharmacology (Subject) / Introduction (Lesson)