00351 - Pharmacology

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has the general concepts of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. He also knows the characteristics of some classes of drugs relevant to the specific professional field such as opioids, anxiolytics and hypnotics, antipsychotics, antidepressants and antiepileptics, narcotic analgesics, NSAIDs with the indication in specific clinical cases.

Course contents

Pharmacokinetics: routes of drug administration, absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs. Control of plasma drug concentration.

Pharmacodynamics: drug-receptor interactions and drug responses. Concepts of efficacy, potency, therapeutic index, and safety margin of drugs. Factors influencing drug response. Individual variability in drug response: pharmacogenetics.

Drug development: from molecule discovery to daily clinical use.

Adverse drug reactions and pharmacovigilance.

Steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 

Opioid and non-opioid analgesic drugs. 

Drugs for the treatment of major neurological and psychiatric disorders: anxiolytics, hypnotics, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and antiepileptics.

Poisonings and antidotes.

Readings/Bibliography

1)KL Whalen

LE BASI DELLA FARMACOLOGIA, Quarta edizione italiana, Zanichelli Editore

2) Furlanut

FARMACOLOGIA GENERALE E CLINICA PER LE LAUREE SANITARIE, Piccin

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

Questionnaire consisting of 31 questions with 4 possible answers of which only one is correct. The questions concern the whole program of the course.

Students have 20 minutes for the written exam. The use of supporting materials such as textbooks, notes, or computer media is not permitted during the exam. The maximum score achievable for providing all correct and complete answers is therefore 30 cum laude. A minimum score of 18/30 is considered a pass.

For further details, please consult the Useful Content section of the teacher's page.

Teaching tools

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

Office hours

See the website of Domenico Motola