This was the introductory class for BNS Ist yr on General Pharmacology. It tries to explain the evolution of the subject and the possible future. Hoping that this will help develop some interest on the subject.

1. Introduction to Pharmacology
For BNS 1st Year
Dr. Pravin Prasad
1st Year Resident, MD Clinical Pharmacology
Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu
November 29, 2015 (Mangsir 12, 2072), Sunday

2. Objectives
• Introduction to Clinical Pharmacology
• Terminologies and abbreviations used in Pharmacology
• Drug Nomenclature
• Essential Drug Concept
• Rational use of Drugs

3. Before being organised….

4. Goats after consuming coffee berries

5. Ancient Poisons….

6. Use of herbs in Ancient times…

7. Before being organised..
• Gambolling and frisking of coffee berries (caffeine) consumed goats
through the night
• Poisoners using mushroom or deadly nightshade plant (containing
belladonna alkaloids atropine and scopolamine)
• Used by ladies to dilate their pupils as eyedrops (belladonna
compounds) “beautiful ladies”
• Chinese herb ma huang (ephedrine) as circulatory stimulant
• Poisoned arrows (curare) by South American Indians for hunting
• Poppy juice (opium) for pain relief and control of dysentries and
recreational purposes

8. Then…
• Drug invention/discovery became more allied with synthetic organic
chemistry.
• Paul Ehrlich postulation about dyes
• Invention of arsphenamine in 1907; patented as “salvarsan”
• Gerhard Domagk
• Prontosil
“ERA OF ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPY”

9. Introduction: Defining pharmacology
• Pharmacology is a science of drugs.
• Pharmacon – drug
• logos – discourse in
• The subject of pharmacology is a broad one and embraces the
knowledge of the source, physical and chemical properties,
compounding, physiological actions, absorption, fate and excretion,
and therapeutic uses of drugs.
• Can be defined as the study of substances that interact with living
systems through chemical processes, especially by binding to
regulatory molecules and activating or inhibiting normal body
processes

10. Pharmacology to Clinical Pharmacology and
Beyond: Changing Concepts
Period of
bizzare notions
(before 17th
century)
Reliance on
experimentatio
n and
observation;
Development
of materia
medica
(17th century)
Development
in
Experimental
Pharmacology
(late 18th and
early 19th
century)
Development
in Clinical
Pharmacology ;
i.e. controlled
clinical trials,
rational
therapeutics
(late 19th
century)
Pharmacogeno
mics (near
future)

11. Pharmacology to Clinical Pharmacology:
Changing Concepts
• Clinical Pharmacology is the scientific study of drugs (both old and
new) in man.
• Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic investigations
• Healthy volunteers and patients

12. Pharmacology: Major Areas
• Medical Pharmacology
• The science of substances used to prevent,
diagnose and treat disease
• Toxicology
• Deals with the undesirable effects of chemicals
on living systems, from individual cells to
humans to complex ecosystems

13. Objectives
• Introduction to Clinical Pharmacology
• Terminologies and abbreviations used in Pharmacology
• Drug Nomenclature
• Essential Drug Concept
• Rational use of Drugs

14. Terminologies
• Pharmacokinetics
―Refers to the movement of the drug in and alteration of the drug by body
―Includes absorption, distribution, binding/localization/storage,
biotransformation and excretion of the drug
• Pharmacodynamics
―Physiological and biochemical effects of drugs, and
―Their mechanism of action at various levels
• Pharmacotherapeutics
―Application of pharmacological information together with knowledge of
disease for its prevention, mitigation or cure

15. Terminologies
• Drug
―French: Drougue-a dry herb
―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
• Chemotherapy
―Treatment of systemic infection/malignancy with specific drugs that have
selective toxicity for the infective organism/malignant cell with no/minimal
effects on the host cells

16. Terminologies
• Pharmacy
―It is the art and science of compounding and dispensing drugs or preparing
suitable dosage forms for administration of drugs to man or animals
• Abbreviations ??

17. Objectives
 Introduction to Clinical Pharmacology
 Terminologies and abbreviations used in Pharmacology
• Drug Nomenclature
• Essential Drug Concept
• Rational use of Drugs

18. Time to Brainstorm!!!
• A 32 year male patient came to ENT OPD with complains of sore
throat for 2 days, fever, high grade for 2 days, difficulty in swallowing;
was examined by doctor on duty, diagnosed as Acute pharyngitis and
Azithral, with other drugs, was prescribed.
• He went to pharmacy and was dispensed Zulid, stating Azithral is out
of stock
• The patient is worried that the pharmacist changed the medicine and
came to you.
• What will you do?

19. Time to Brainstrom: Medicine check!

20. Drug Nomenclature
Chemical Name Non-proprietary Name Proprietary Name
Describes the substance chemically Name accepted by competent scientific
body/authority (USAN, BAN, rINN)
Name assigned by the manufacturer and
is their property or trademark
Code name assigned by the
manufacturer for convenience and
simplicity before an approved name is
coined
Referred to as approved name unless
the drug is included in pharmacopoeia
After being included, it is called official
name
At times also referred as generic names
Also known as Trade name
• 1-(isopropylamino)-3-(1-naphthyloxy)
propan-2-ol
• RO 15-1788 (code name used for
flumazenil)
• Propanolol
• Meperidine/pethidine
• Lidocaine/lignocaine
• Diplar (Deurali Janta)
• Ciplar (Cipla)
• Inderal (Abott)
Uniformity, convenience, economy,
better comprehension
Catchy, short, easy to remember, usually
suggestive, consistency achieved
Cumbersome; not suitable for
prescribing purposes
Consistency of product may not be
achieved (quality, bioavailability)
Confusion in drug nomenclature

21. With that lets wrap up for today!!
• Next class we will discuss about:
• Essential Medicine (Drugs) Concept
• Rational Use of Medicine (Drugs)
• And, You will be interacting about Abbreviations used in
Pharmacology!!!
• Thank you!