84902 - General Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy I

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student: - knows the different mechanisms of drug action, i.e. the characteristics and the pharmacodynamic consequences of their interaction with the biological structures that are responsible for the therapeutic and toxic effects, as well as the methods and parameters used for response measurement; - knows the principles of pharmacokinetics, such as the absorption, distribution and elimination of drugs, as well as their bioavailability and general biotransformation mechanisms; - knows the main factors responsible for drug response variability and the main mechanisms and effects of drug interactions; - acquires the knowledge necessary to understand the mechanisms of action and the therapeutic profile of the drugs used in anti-infective therapy and in anti-tumor chemotherapy; - knows the mechanisms of action and the therapeutic profile of local anesthetics, and of drugs active on the autonomic nervous system, the neuromuscular junction, and uterine motility - knows how to apply the learned expertise to the practice of the profession, to the correct conservation and dispensation of drugs, to give information on drugs and to educate to the their correct use and to monitor the appropriateness of medicines utilization and the continuity of adherence to drug therapy in chronic therapies.

Course contents

MODULE 1 - GENERAL PHARMACOLOGY - Teacher: Sanzio Candeletti

Definition and fields of Pharmacology. Concept of drug / poison, as a tool of pharmacotherapy and medicine and as a tool for biological investigation.

Pharmacokinetics: routes of administration of drugs and their adsorption; drugs movement across biological membranes; bioavailability; drug distribution among body compartments, distribution volume, plasma protein binding; biotranformation; drug excretion; pattern of plasma concentrations (after single or repeated administration).

Pharmacodymamics: sites and mechanisms of actions of drugs; drug-receptor interactions and their cellular consequences; dose-response relationships; drugs acting as agonists, antagonists or partial agonists; factors modifying drug actions (e.g. age, pathologies, drug interactions, tolerance, placebo). Drug interactions. General Toxicity: adverse effects; overdose effects; idiosyncratic or allergic reactions; abuse liability. Preclinical and clinical drug development. Pharmacovigilance.

 

MODULE 2 - PHARMACOLOGY OF TH AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM - Teacher: Sanzio Candeletti

Functional organization of the autonomic and peripheral nervous system and of the neuromuscular junction.
Cholinergic agonists and antagonists and acetylcholinesterase inhibitor drugs.
Adrenergic agonists and antagonists.
Pharmacology of the neuromuscular transmission.
Local anesthetics.
Drugs acting drugs on uterine motility.
Drugs used for migraine.

Readings/Bibliography

Govoni S. et al., "Farmacologia", Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, 2014

F. Clementi, G. Fumagalli, "Farmacologia Generale e Molecolare", EDRA, 2018

Katzung BG, "Farmacologia Generale e clinica", Ed. Piccin, 2014

Rossi F, Cuomo V, Riccardi C, "Farmacologia", Ed. Minerva Medica, 2011

For further information: Goodman e Gilman. Le basi Farmacologiche della terapia XIII Ed. Zanichelli, 2019.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons (lectures)

Office hours

See the website of Sanzio Candeletti

See the website of Eleonora Turrini