ThePharmaFacts

DRUG EFFICACY & DRUG POTENCY    - Both of these are like TWO DIFFERENT beds in a single room!!    - Often these two terms ‘Drug Potency’ & ‘Drug Efficacy’ are used relatively, but these are not synonymous & refer to different characteristics of the drug    - So, this is the article from where you may clearly understand the difference between these two terms which we mentioned earlier as two different beds in a single room!                                                                                                                                                                     1. DRUG POTENCY:    - Amount of Drug Needed to produce maximum effect which is done by the Drug-Receptor Interaction.    -  It is the ability/affinity of drug to bind receptors.     - Amount of drug is inversely proportional to potency that means lesser the amount of drug required to produce maximum effect, more will be the potency of that drug.    - It is also known as Drug St

  Pharmacology Syllabus [ PCI ]     1. General Pharmacology :  -  History & Scope   -  IMP Definitions  -  Nature & Source of Drugs  -  Essential Drugs Concept & Routes of Drug Administration  -  Pharmacokinetics:                   - Membrane Transport                  - ADME                  - Enzyme Induction & Enzyme Inhibition                  -  Kinetics of Elimination  -  Pharmacodynamics:                 - MOA                 - Receptors: Theories, Classification & Regulation                 -  Signal Transduction Mechanisms/Transducer Mechanisms                 -  Dose Response Relationship                 -  Therapeutic Index                 -  Combined Effects of Drugs                 -  Factors Modifying Drug Action  -  Adverse Drug Reactions [ADR's]  -  Drug Interactions [Pharmacokinetic & Pharmacodynamic]  -  Drug Discovery & Clinical Evaluation of New Drugs                                                                                  

     Mucormycosis is an angio invasive infection that occurs due to the fungi Mucorales . It is a rare disease but increasingly recognized in immunocompromised patients. It can be categorized into rhino-orbito cerebral, cutaneous, disseminated, gastrointestinal, and pulmonary types. INTRODUCTION American pathologist " R.D. Baker" coined the term Mucormycosis. ETIOPATHOGENESIS Mucorales attack deep tissues by means of ingestion or inhalation of spores, and percutaneous injection of spores.       As soon as the spores penetrate into the lung or cutaneous tissues, the first line of defense in the healthy host is capable of destroying the spores via oxidative metabolites and cationic peptides .  Risk factors include,  uncontrolled diabetes mellitus ketoacidosis steroid use extremes of age neutropenia  hematological malignancy AIDS renal insufficiency organ or stem cell transplantation iron overload skin trauma broad-spectrum antibiotics TREATMENT:     " Antifungal drugs&qu

        G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs)                       A. Adenylyl Cyclase: cAMP Pathway                       B.   Phospholipase C: IP3 -DAG Pathway                       C.   Channel Regulation A.   Adenylyl Cyclase: cAMP Pathway:     - Adrenaline binds to β-adrenergic receptor on the cell surface inducing a conformational change which permits interaction of the G-protein binding site with the stimulatory G-protein [Gs].      - The activated α subunit of Gs now binds GTP & dissociates from the βγ dimer as well as the receptor then Gs-α carrying bound GTP associates with & activates the enzyme Adenylyl Cyclase [AC] located on the cytosolic side of the membrane where ATP is hydrolyzed to cAMP which then phosphorylates & thus activates cAMP Dependent Protein Kinase [PK A ] .      - The PK A  in turn phosphorylates many functional proteins including Troponin & Phospholamban , so that they interact with Ca2+.     - They resulting in increased force of contract

  Physiological Barriers Physiological Barriers to Distribution of Drugs contains a membrane (or a barrier) with special structural features which can be a permeability restriction to distribution of drugs to some tissues Some important simple and specialized physiological barriers are: 1. Simple capillary endothelial barrier 2. Simple cell membrane barrier 3. Blood-brain barrier  4. Blood-CSF barrier 5. Blood- placental barrier 6. Blood-testis barrier 1.Simple Capillary Endothelial Barrier: All drugs, ionized/unionized, with a molecular size less than 600 Daltons, diffuse through this barrier into the interstitial fluid Only drugs bound to blood components are restricted because of large molecular size of the complex 2.Simple Cell Membrane Barrier:  Simple cell membrane is similar to the lipoidal barrier in the GI absorption of drugs The physicochemical properties that influence permeation of drugs across such a barrier are summarized below: 3.Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB):