What is pharmacology?
drugs exert their effects by binding to receptors in our bodies and triggering a functional change
What is pharmacokinetics?
- how body reacts to drugs
- very important in drug safety and development
What is pharmacodynamics
- how receptors react to drugs
What is terfenadine?
specific H1 receptor antagonist - anti-histamine
How is terfenadine metabolized?
metabolized by the liver into its active antihistamine form fexofenadine
is a prodrug
What are adverse effects that can occur if terfenadine is not metabolized
- is a powerful blocker of certain proteins (hERG) that control electrical activity and beating of the heart
- can lead to lethal cardiac arrhythmia
What are some reasons that terfenadine can have lethal effects
- inhibit the activity of certain liver enzymes involved in drug metabolism (CYP3A4)
What are some solutions in the case of terfenadine
The simple solution is to administer the metabolite of terfenadine, known as allegra
What are receptors
molecular targets of a drug
What is a prodrug?
not intrinsically active, + metabolized after administration
- first pass metabolism
What are off-target effects
drugs are not specifically for one receptor, they can influence closely related receptors + completely unrelated receptors
What are adverse events
undesirable drug effects which can vary
What is pharacogenomics
genetic background of patient can significantly affect how they react to a drug
What are drug interactions
common for one drug to affect the response to another
