Basic Pharmacology

The precise mechanism of nitrate action is not cleady understood and may be a combination of many factors. The basic pharmacologic action of nitrates is a relaxation of most vascular smooth muscle, eg, vascular, bronchial, gastrointestinal, uretal, uterine, etc. Vascular smooth muscle relaxation is a... 

A number of features have proven useful for students in their study of basic pharmacology. The following features appear in the seventh edition ... 

After an overview of neurotransmitter systems and function and a consideration of which substances can be classified as neurotransmitters, section A deals with their release, effects on neuronal excitability and receptor interaction. The synaptic physiology and pharmacology and possible brain function of each neurotransmitter is then covered in some detail (section B). Special attention is given to acetylcholine, glutamate, GABA, noradrenaline, dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and the peptides but the purines, histamine, steroids and nitric oxide are not forgotten and there is a brief overview of appropriate basic pharmacology. 

Basic Pharmacology and Drug Effects on Neurotransmitter Function... 

The kinds of information described here are found on three types of PC media floppy, CD-ROM, and laser disks. The products run the gamut of allowing one to assess current developments on a weekly basis, as well as to carry out more traditional reviews of historical information. The general types of information one can cover include basic pharmacology, preclinical toxicology, competitive products, and clinical safety. 

Fiernandez MA, Rathinavelu A. Basic Pharmacology Understanding Drug Actions and Reactions, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2006. 

McGavock, Hugh. How Drugs Work Basic Pharmacology for Healthcare Professionals. Abingdon, U.K. Radcliffe Medical Press, 2002. 

Some adverse reactions are predictable from knowledge of the basic pharmacology of the drug concerned. Examples are ... 

Frank JB, Kosten TR, Giller EL Jr, Dan E (1988) A randomized clinical trial of phenelzine and imipramine for posttraumatic stress disorder. Am J Psychiatry 145 1289-1291 Goddard AW, Brouette T, Almai A, Jetty P, Woods SW, Charney D (2001) Early coadministration of clonazepam with sertraline for panic disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 58 681-686 Goodnick PJ, Goldstein BJ (1998) SSRIs in affective disorders. I. Basic pharmacology. J Psychopharmacol 12(Suppl B) S5-S20... 

Basic Pharmacology of the Directly Acting Parasympathomimetic Drugs... 

Goodnick PL and Goldstein BJ. Selective serotonin inhibitors in affective disorders I. Basic pharmacology. J Psychopharmacol 1998 12 S5-20. 

Basic pharmacology. Claims that citalopram is the most selective SSRI are based on two types of in vitro evidence [Hyttel 1994] IC50 [concentration required to inhibit uptake by 50%] ratios between noradrenaline [NA]... 

Basic pharmacology. Fluvoxamine is an effective serotonin reuptake inhibitor with an ICjg value of 0.3 pmol/L comparable ICjg values for desipramine and fluoxetine are 0.8 jmol/L and 1.3 omol/L, respectively [Bradford 1984]. The ICjo values for NA and dopamine were 100 times higher than those for serotonin [Bradford 1984]. In vitro data indicate that fluvoxamine has little or no affinity for Oj, a, Pi, P2, Dj, S-HTj, muscarinic, or histaminergic receptors [Benfield and Ward 1986]. Fluvoxamine has a total of 11 metabolites, and the 2 principal ones have little or no pharmacological activity [Claassen 1983]. 

These data are required by regulatory agencies and vital for physicians. Pharmaceutical scientists also use this information as a basis for the discovery and development of new drugs. A clear understanding of basic pharmacology and the concepts unique to characterization and evaluation of therapeutic proteins and biologies, as opposed to small molecules, is essential for optimal use of these agents. 

Paralleling these clinical developments were basic pharmacological studies, which noted that reserpine ( 5, 6, 7 and 8) and a-methyidopa produced depression in patients treated for hypertension ( 9,10 and 11). The fact that the MAOIs and TCAs functionally increased norepinephrine (NE) activity while reserpine lowered its activity led Schiidkraut (12) and Bunney and Davis (13) to independently formulate the NE hypothesis of depression. This same line of reasoning was also applied to serotonin (5-HT) (14, 15). 

The variability in composition is because these are natural products and often are not pure extracts of a single chemical. Instead, they often contain multiple chemicals that may contribute to different beneficial or adverse effects. Composition may also vary as a function of what part of the plant is used to make the product (e.g., the root versus the stalk). In contrast to patented medications, there is no requirement to prove safety or efficacy to market it. There is also no requirement to define the basic pharmacology of the product. Hence, there is often little substantive knowledge about the pharmacodynamics or the pharmacokinetics of the compound or constituents. 

Mirakhur RK, McCarthy GJ. Basic pharmacology of reversal agents. Anesthesiol Clin North Am 1993 11 237-50. 

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