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Principles of Pharmacodynamics - Terminology

Terms in this set (18)

xenobiotic
A drug or chemical which is foreign to the body.
chemotherapy
Application of drugs for treatment of diseases caused by invading organisms (i.e. bacteria/cancer)
antibiotic
Type of chemotherapeutic agent - product of one living organism (i.e. penicillin, streptomycin, cephalosporin)
idiosyncracy
Unusual or exaggerated side effect (i.e. barbiturate causing pain/excitement; morphine)
additive drug effects
Effect of a combination of drugs with similar Pharmacologic activity; the sum of the effects of the individual drugs when taken alone (i.e. barbiturate + alcohol)
potentiation
Effect of a combination of drugs is greater than the sum of the effects of the drugs administered individually - rarely occurs (i.e. cholinesterase inhibitor and ACh or parasympathomimetic)
therapeutic index
Lethal Dose 50 / Effective Dose 50 (LD50/ED50); the greater, the safer the drug (i.e. penicillin = large T.I.; antineoplastics = small T.I.)
tolerance
Phenomenon whereby it requires a larger and larger dose of a drug to produce the same biologic effect; requires chronic use of a drug over a period of time (i.e. morphine, amphetamine)
drug disposition
A type of tolerance via enzyme induction (i.e. barbiturates)
pharmacodynamic
A type of tolerance via CNS adaptation (i.e. alcohol)
tachyphylaxis
Acute (rapid onset) tolerance - one or two doses.
antagonism
Occurs when one drug depresses or inhibits action of another drug.
antagonist
The substance blocking a drug and inhibiting a response.
agonist
A substance that stimulates a biological response, but is blocked in antagonism.
receptor (pharmacologic)
A mechanism of drug antagonism in which two different drugs compete for the same receptor
physiologic
A mechanism of drug antagonism in which two drugs produce opposite pharmacologic activity and act on different receptors
chemical
A mechanism of drug antagonism in which a chemical binds to an active drug and inactivates it (i.e. chelators --> EDTA)
pharmacodynamics
Factors involved in drug action - absorption, distribution, and elimination of drug in body.
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