Pharmacology 1

Data

Official data in SubjectManager for the following academic year: 2024-2025

Topic

The general aim of the subject is to provide the medical students with all the basic information in pharmacology necessary to understand the actions of drugs and the clinical pharmacotherapy and to pass the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination in Medical Sciences. Pharmacology can be defined as the study of the manner in which the function of living systems is affected by chemical agents. Therefore, the students should be familiar with the basic knowledge of the physiological, pathophysiological and biochemical background of the pharmacological and therapeutic approaches. On the other hand, drug therapy is closely related to the clinical aspects of diseases.

The following topics will be dealt with. Definitions, prescription writing, drug development, drug formulations. General aspects of mechanisms of drug actions: characterization of drug-receptor interactions, mechanisms of drug antagonism, signal transduction mechanisms of drug receptors. General and quantitative aspects of pharmacokinetics: absorption, distribution and elimination of drugs. Pharmacology of the autonomic nervous system and the respiratory system.

Lectures

• 1. Introduction to pharmacology - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 2. Introduction to neuropharmacology - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 3. Cholinergic stimulants - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 4. Muscarinic receptor antagonists - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 5. Neuromuscular blocking agents - Pethő Gábor István
• 6. Agents acting on noradrenergic neurons - Pethő Gábor István
• 7. Adrenergic agonists I - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 8. Adrenergic agonists II - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 9. Adrenergic antagonists - Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• 10. Local anesthetics - Tamasikné Helyes Zsuzsanna
• 11. Histamine and antihistaminic drugs - Sándor Zoltán (1968, Farmakológia)
• 12. Pharmacology of eicosanoids - Pethő Gábor István
• 13. Pharmacological significance of protein and peptide mediators - Szőke Éva
• 14. Pharmacological aspects of the purinergic system and nitric oxide - Sánticsné Pintér Erika

Practices

Seminars

• 1. Introduction to pharmacology
• 2. Drug names, drug compendia
• 3. Basic mechanisms of drug actions
• 4. Characterization of agonist-receptor interaction I
• 5. Characterization of agonist-receptor interaction II
• 6. Characterization of agonist-receptor interaction III
• 7. Signal transduction mechanisms of drug receptors
• 8. Tachyphylaxis and tolerance to drugs
• 9. Mechanisms of drug antagonisms I
• 10. Mechanisms of drug antagonisms II
• 11. Transport of drugs across membranes I
• 12. Transport of drugs across membranes II
• 13. Absorption of drugs
• 14. Distribution of drugs
• 15. Biotransformation of drugs I
• 16. Biotransformation of drugs II
• 17. Excretion of drugs
• 18. Quantitative aspects of pharmacokinetics I
• 19. Quantitative aspects of pharmacokinetics II
• 20. Computer simulation: quantitative pharmacokinetics
• 21. Drug development
• 22. Prescription writing
• 23. Drug formulations I
• 24. Drug formulations II
• 25. Drugs acting on smooth muscle
• 26. Drugs acting on the respiratory tract I
• 27. Drugs acting on the respiratory tract II
• 28. Drugs acting on the respiratory tract III

Reading material

Obligatory literature

Literature developed by the Department

Materials related to the topics discussed in lectures and seminars will be available in Neptun.

Notes

Recommended literature

Rang, Dale, Ritter, Moore: Pharmacology, 9th edition, Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2019

B. G. Katzung (ed.): Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 14th edition, Lange Medical Books, McGraw-Hill, 2018

Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 13th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2018

Conditions for acceptance of the semester

-

Mid-term exams

Thre is no mid-semester test.

Making up for missed classes

Each missed seminar has to be made up for with another group in the same week.

Exam topics/questions

1. Definition of pharmacology and the related subjects. Drug development

2. Drug names, drug compendia. Prescription writing

3. Drug formulations

4. Basic mechanisms of drug actions (examples of drug effects on receptors, ion channels, enzymes, carrier systems and effects mediated by physicochemical interactions)

5. Characterisation of agonist-receptor interaction: occupancy, affinity, dose-response curve, potency, efficacy

6. Significance of signal transduction mechanisms in the effects of drugs. Tachyphylaxis and tolerance to drugs

7. Mechanisms of drug antagonisms

8. Transport of drugs across membranes

9. Absorption of drugs, oral bioavailability and presystemic elimination

10. Distribution of drugs

11. Biotransformation of drugs

12. Excretion of drugs

13. Pharmacokinetics: zero and first order elimination, volume of distribution, clearance, elimination half-life, oral bioavailability, loading dose, maintenance dose

14. Cholinergic agonists and cholinesterase inhibitors

15. Muscarinic receptor antagonists

16. Neuromuscular blocking agents

17. Agents acting on the biosynthesis, storage, release and elimination of catecholamines

18. Adrenergic receptor agonists

19. Adrenergic receptor antagonists

20. Pharmacology of protein and peptide mediators, the purinergic system and nitric oxide

21. Local anesthetics

22. Histamine, antihistaminic drugs

23. Pharmacology of eicosanoids. Drugs acting on smooth muscle

24. Drugs used to treat bronchial asthma

25. Drug treatment of allergic rhinitis. Antitussives, expectorants and mucolytics

The A exam is written, B and C exams are oral. For those who do not attend the A exam, the B exam is written. The written exam is composed of multiple choice questions from the lecture and seminar material. In order to pass, the student must have a performance over 60% regarding both subgroups of questions (lecture material and seminar material).

Upon the oral exam, 2 exam topics are chosen. In addition to these exam topics, important parts of the exam are the questions that aim at assessing the general knowledge of the student. Bad performance in this part of the exam may lead to failure regardless of the answers to exam topics.

Examiners

• Barthó Loránd
• Borbély Éva
• Pethő Gábor István
• Pozsgai Gábor
• Sánticsné Pintér Erika
• Tamasikné Helyes Zsuzsanna

Instructor / tutor of practices and seminars

• Börzsei Rita Judit
• Horváth Ádám (Farmakológia)
• Zsidó Balázs Zoltán