76081 - Pharmacology

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students have the general concepts of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and the basic principles of pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology. They also know the characteristics (mechanism of action, indications and side effects) of some classes of drugs used for the treatment of inflammation and pain, with a special attention to clinical practice.

Course contents

Definition of drug; development and marketing authorization process. Sources of drug information.

Pharmacokinetics: routes of drug administration; absorption; distribution; drug metabolism; excretion.

Pharmacodynamics: agonist and antagonists; dose-response curves; therapeutic index; clinically-relevant drug interactions.

Basic concepts of Pharmacovigilance.

Drug therapy of inflammation and pain: opioid agents, non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, including COXIBs and differences with paracetamol) and corticosteroids.

Benzodiazepines: mechanism of action, uses and side effects.

Readings/Bibliography

Specific textbooks are not necessary.

The teaching material provided on the institutional platform (iol.unibo.it, access restricted to UNIBO students) and the notes taken during the lessons are essential for the preparation of the final exam.

As a reference, the student can deepen the topics on the following texts:

Le basi della farmacologia. Karen Whalen. Ed. Zanichelli 2020.

Farmacologia per le lauree triennali e magistrali. Taglialatela, Conforti, Cuzzolin, Leone, Mattioli, Moretti, Pignataro, Vanzetta. Ed. Idelson-Gnocchi, 2021.

Teaching methods

Interactive lectures

Assessment methods

The final exam is written and consists in the critical reading of the Summary of the Product Characteristics of a medicinal product, selected and illustrated during the lectures.

On the basis of clarity and completeness of the discussion, a partial score is assigned. This score will contribute to the final score in proportion to the credits.

Teaching tools

Teaching material (access restricted to UNIBO student) can be downloaded at https://iol.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Monia Donati