lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Module 1
Outcome1: Identify and describe basic drug nomenclature including drug names,
agonists/antagonists, MOA, DOA, and forms
Outcome 2: Explain and identify the processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism and
excretion
Outcome 3: Describe drug receptor interactions and their effects in the body
Outcome 4: Differentiate between common drug interactions
Outcome 5: Discuss drug safety and abuse
Outcome 6: Calculate drug dosage
1.1: An Introduction to Pharmacology
Concepts
Pharmacology is the study or science of drugs. What is a drug? A drug is any chemical that
affects the physiologic processes of a living organism. Commonly, the term drug refers to any
medication that is used for diagnosing, curing, or treating disease.
Drug Effects
Drugs have many different effects on the body including the following: (1) therapeutic effects,
(2) side effects, (3) adverse effects, and (4) toxic effects.
Therapeutic effect is the desired drug effect to alleviate some condition or symptom.
Side effects are the drug effect other than the therapeutic effect that are usually undesirable
but not harmful.
Adverse effect is a general term for undesirable and potentially harmful drug effects.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Toxic effects are undesirable drug effects that implies the drug is poisoning the body and can be
harmful or even life-threatening.
Clinically, it is important to recognize the difference between these different ways drugs can
affect the body. A simple side effect could be something as harmless as mild nausea after taking
a medication that can be managed by taking it with food. The drug therapy can continue
without a problem. However, adverse effects need to be assessed to determine whether there
is any risk of harm. Drug therapy is often a risk vs. benefit assessment. The patient’s provider
should weigh the risk of taking the medication vs. the benefit. It often comes down to the
severity of the disease being treated to decide the number of adverse events that will be
tolerated. A good example of this is chemotherapy treatments for cancer. There are often
adverse events associated with these treatment regimens, yet the treatment is continued
because the benefit of treating the cancer is greater than the adverse events the patient
experiences. However, there are certainly times when a treatment becomes too toxic, and the
patient is unable to tolerate the regimen. This is often a large part of managing a cancer
patient’s treatment, to assess how they are handling the adverse effects associated with the
treatment regimen and determine whether it is becoming too toxic and needs to be suspended.
Basic Concepts
There are some basic concepts that are important to understand and that can be applied to any
drug. Most important is the drug’s mechanism of action—how a drug produces its effects. This
course will cover the accepted mechanism of action of known drugs. When a drug enters the
body, it has a targeted site of action—the location within the body where a drug exerts its
therapeutic effect, often a specific drug receptor. Generally, these sites of action or receptors
are on the surface or inside a cell. Receptors are specific cellular structures that a drug binds to
in order to produce a physiologic effect. When a drug binds to a receptor, it can act either as an
agonist, works to activate a physiologic response or drug effect, or an antagonist, works to
interfere with other drugs or substances from producing a drugeffect.
The dose-dependent relationship is a basic principle of pharmacology which states that the
response to any drug depends on the amount of drug given. This is referred to as the dose
dependent relationship. A dose is the exact amount of drug that is given. As shown in Figure
1.1, the onset of action is the time from the drug administration to the first observable effect.
The duration of action is the length of time that the drug continues to produce its effect. All
drugs have a therapeutic range defined as when the drug concentration is above the minimum
effective concentration and below the maximum tolerated concentration.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Figure 1.1 The change in plasma drug concentration over time. The Therapeutic range represented by the area
between the Maximum tolerated concentration (MTC) and Minimum effective concentration (MEC). C max is the
maximum concentration, and tmax is the time it takes to reach the maximum concentration. The time the drug is
above the MEC is the duration of action. If the drug concentration goes above the MTC, it is considered the toxic
range. Similarly, if the drug concentration is below the MEC, it is in the ineffective range.
Nomenclature
All drugs are chemicals, and many have long chemical names that define the chemical
composition of the drug. In addition, they are given a shorter non-proprietary name or generic
name. The generic name, also known as a non-proprietary name, is the name that we will use
for assessments throughout the course. Drugs are marketed under a trade name, also called a
brand name, by pharmaceutical companies under a patented proprietary name specific to that
manufacturer. These names may be somewhat confusing because more often than not, one
manufacturer will market a medication that leads to multiple trade names for the same
pharmaceutical compound. For example, the common blood pressure medication, lisinopril, is
marketed under both Prinivil and Zestril.
Beyond this basic nomenclature system, it is important to know that drugs also fall into
categories called drug classes. Drug classes represent a group of drugs that all work by a
common general mechanism of action. They may have slight differences in their effect on the
body in terms of effectiveness or side effect profile; however, generally drugs within the same
drug class have many of the same characteristics.
Module 1
Outcome1: Identify and describe basic drug nomenclature including drug names,
agonists/antagonists, MOA, DOA, and forms
Outcome 2: Explain and identify the processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism and
excretion
Outcome 3: Describe drug receptor interactions and their effects in the body
Outcome 4: Differentiate between common drug interactions
Outcome 5: Discuss drug safety and abuse
Outcome 6: Calculate drug dosage
1.1: An Introduction to Pharmacology
Concepts
Pharmacology is the study or science of drugs. What is a drug? A drug is any chemical that
affects the physiologic processes of a living organism. Commonly, the term drug refers to any
medication that is used for diagnosing, curing, or treating disease.
Drug Effects
Drugs have many different effects on the body including the following: (1) therapeutic effects,
(2) side effects, (3) adverse effects, and (4) toxic effects.
Therapeutic effect is the desired drug effect to alleviate some condition or symptom.
Side effects are the drug effect other than the therapeutic effect that are usually undesirable
but not harmful.
Adverse effect is a general term for undesirable and potentially harmful drug effects.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Toxic effects are undesirable drug effects that implies the drug is poisoning the body and can be
harmful or even life-threatening.
Clinically, it is important to recognize the difference between these different ways drugs can
affect the body. A simple side effect could be something as harmless as mild nausea after taking
a medication that can be managed by taking it with food. The drug therapy can continue
without a problem. However, adverse effects need to be assessed to determine whether there
is any risk of harm. Drug therapy is often a risk vs. benefit assessment. The patient’s provider
should weigh the risk of taking the medication vs. the benefit. It often comes down to the
severity of the disease being treated to decide the number of adverse events that will be
tolerated. A good example of this is chemotherapy treatments for cancer. There are often
adverse events associated with these treatment regimens, yet the treatment is continued
because the benefit of treating the cancer is greater than the adverse events the patient
experiences. However, there are certainly times when a treatment becomes too toxic, and the
patient is unable to tolerate the regimen. This is often a large part of managing a cancer
patient’s treatment, to assess how they are handling the adverse effects associated with the
treatment regimen and determine whether it is becoming too toxic and needs to be suspended.
Basic Concepts
There are some basic concepts that are important to understand and that can be applied to any
drug. Most important is the drug’s mechanism of action—how a drug produces its effects. This
course will cover the accepted mechanism of action of known drugs. When a drug enters the
body, it has a targeted site of action—the location within the body where a drug exerts its
therapeutic effect, often a specific drug receptor. Generally, these sites of action or receptors
are on the surface or inside a cell. Receptors are specific cellular structures that a drug binds to
in order to produce a physiologic effect. When a drug binds to a receptor, it can act either as an
agonist, works to activate a physiologic response or drug effect, or an antagonist, works to
interfere with other drugs or substances from producing a drugeffect.
The dose-dependent relationship is a basic principle of pharmacology which states that the
response to any drug depends on the amount of drug given. This is referred to as the dose
dependent relationship. A dose is the exact amount of drug that is given. As shown in Figure
1.1, the onset of action is the time from the drug administration to the first observable effect.
The duration of action is the length of time that the drug continues to produce its effect. All
drugs have a therapeutic range defined as when the drug concentration is above the minimum
effective concentration and below the maximum tolerated concentration.
, lOMoAR cPSD| 67756003
Figure 1.1 The change in plasma drug concentration over time. The Therapeutic range represented by the area
between the Maximum tolerated concentration (MTC) and Minimum effective concentration (MEC). C max is the
maximum concentration, and tmax is the time it takes to reach the maximum concentration. The time the drug is
above the MEC is the duration of action. If the drug concentration goes above the MTC, it is considered the toxic
range. Similarly, if the drug concentration is below the MEC, it is in the ineffective range.
Nomenclature
All drugs are chemicals, and many have long chemical names that define the chemical
composition of the drug. In addition, they are given a shorter non-proprietary name or generic
name. The generic name, also known as a non-proprietary name, is the name that we will use
for assessments throughout the course. Drugs are marketed under a trade name, also called a
brand name, by pharmaceutical companies under a patented proprietary name specific to that
manufacturer. These names may be somewhat confusing because more often than not, one
manufacturer will market a medication that leads to multiple trade names for the same
pharmaceutical compound. For example, the common blood pressure medication, lisinopril, is
marketed under both Prinivil and Zestril.
Beyond this basic nomenclature system, it is important to know that drugs also fall into
categories called drug classes. Drug classes represent a group of drugs that all work by a
common general mechanism of action. They may have slight differences in their effect on the
body in terms of effectiveness or side effect profile; however, generally drugs within the same
drug class have many of the same characteristics.
