BDS 1st year theory class

1. Pharmacology: An Introduction
Dr. Pravin Prasad
MBBS, MD Clinical Pharmacology
Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Pharmacology
Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Maharajgunj
17 February 2020 (5 Falgun 2076), Monday

2. By the end of this discussion, BDS 1st year
students will be able to:
• Briefly outline the development of Clinical Pharmacology
• Explain different terminologies used in Pharmacology
• Understand different drug nomenclatures

3. Before being organised….

4. Goats after consuming coffee berries

5. Ancient Poisons….

6. Use of herbs in Ancient times…

7. 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”

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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?

16. Time to Brainstrom: Medicine check!

17. 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

18. 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!