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PHAR 100 INTRODUCTION TO PHARMACOLOGY
EXAM 2025 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS GRADED A+
Which one of the following statements correctly matches the scientist with their drug discovery?
a. Paul Ehrlich designed organoarsenicals, which selectively bound to parasites, leading to a cure for syphilis.
b. Streptomycin was introduced for the treatment of tuberculosis by Alexander Fleming.
c. Domagk discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, during the First World War.
d. Sulfa drugs were introduced into therapy by Waksman to treat bacterial disea
a. Paul Ehrlich designed organoarsenicals, which selectively bound to parasites, leading to a cure for syphilis.
The sound and long-established way to prove or disprove the value of a new medication or treatment is a controlled study. This includes:
a. Patients are selected and assigned to various test groups based on their characteristics.
b. All patients receive the new drug or the control drug (gold-standard or placebo), on alternating days.
c. The people who administer the drugs do not know who is receiving the new drug or the control drug.
d. The outcomes measured should preferably be subjective
c. The people who administer the drugs do not know who is receiving the new drug or the control drug.
Drug A can only relieve pain of mild intensity. Drug B, on the other hand, relieves pain of very marked intensity. From this information, one can conclude that:
a) Drug A has greater efficacy than Drug B.
b) Drug B has greater efficacy than Drug A.
c) Drug A is more potent than Drug B.
b. Rapid breakdown in the liver.
c. Poor penetration into the brain.
d. Rapid excretion by the kidney
a. Redistribution of the drug from the brain to muscle and fat.
Penicillin has the ability to combine with proteins to form antigens, and a small percentage of the population receiving penicillin experience adverse effects. These adverse effects are properly classified as:
a. An extension of the therapeutic effect.
b. Teratogenesis.
c. A drug allergy.
d. Drug addiction
c. A drug allergy.
The TD50 of a drug in rats was found to be 50 milligrams/kilogram. The ED50 of the same drug in rats was 1 milligram/kilogram. From this information, one can calculate that the therapeutic index of the drug in rats is:
a.0.
b.
c.
d.
b.
The primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain is:
a. Acetylcholine
b. Glutamate
c. Norepinephrine
d. GABA
b. Addiction is an abnormal state produced by repeated administration of a drug that leads to the appearance of a withdrawal syndrome when the drug is stopped.
c. Drug use is reinforced by the pleasurable effect produced by a drug.
d. Dependence rarely occurs under conditions where the drug is prescribed by a physician
c. Drug use is reinforced by the pleasurable effect produced by a drug.
The administration of amphetamines can result in:
a. Decreased state of alertness
b. Hypothermia
c. Insomnia
d. decreased respiration
c. Insomnia
Which one of the following statements regarding nicotine
is correct?
a. Nicotine is the component in cigarette smoke responsible for the lung cancer risk.
b. Carbon monoxide is the component in cigarette smoke which is responsible for the dependence potential.
c. Tolerance invariably develops to the euphoric effect of nicotine.
d. Nicotine and carbon monoxide are believed to be agents in cigarette smoke which cause cardiovascular disease.
d. Nicotine and carbon monoxide are believed to be agents in cigarette smoke which cause cardiovascular disease.
Which one of the following is the correct mechanism of action of caffeine?
a. Releases transmitters from sympathetic nerve endings.
b. Inhibits uptake of dopamine.
c. Binds to and activates GABA receptors.
benzodiazepines.
d. Addiction does not develop to the benzodiazepine
c. Tolerance occurs to the sedative and hypnotic effects of the benzodiazepines.
Which one of the following statements correctly applies to the sedative-hypnotics?
a. Flumazenil is a GABA receptor agonist.
b. The Z-drugs (e.g. Zolpidem) are new GABA receptor agonists that have minimal effects on sleep patterns.
c. The barbiturates are rarely, if ever, associated with lethality.
d. Barbiturates are useful appetite suppressants
b. The Z-drugs (e.g. Zolpidem) are new GABA receptor agonists that have minimal effects on sleep patterns.
Which one of the following statements regarding alcohol
is correct?
a. Alcohol can be used as an antidote for methanol poisoning.
b. Pharmacologically, ethanol is classified as a CNS stimulant.
c. Ethanol is transferred across the placenta with some difficulty.
d. The maximum blood alcohol level is reached within 15 minutes of the last drink.
a. Alcohol can be used as an antidote for methanol poisoning.
Which one of the following statements accurately applies to alcohol consumption?
a. Chronic ethanol abuse can result in cirrhosis of the liver, an irreversible condition.
b. One or two drinks is usually sufficient to lead to depression and irritability.
c. Moderate amounts of alcohol are safe to drink during pregnancy.
d. Tolerance develops rapidly to the lethal effects of ethan
a. Chronic ethanol abuse can result in cirrhosis of the liver, an irreversible condition.
b. Respiratory depression.
Discuss the factors that contribute to the
removal of a drug from the body.
ADME:
Absorption
Distribution
Metabolism
Excretion
Processes that a drug goes through when it enters the body until it exits. Primary factors that contributes to the removal of a drug from the body is Metabolism (ex: through the liver ) and excretion.
What is Biotransformation?
When the liver uses its enzymes to convert drugs and other chemicals to water soluble products that are excreted from the urine
Purpose: to make a drug more water soluble so that it can actually be excreted by the body
What is important to know about cytochromes P450?
(biotransformation) Genetic variability
- When you give the same medication to two people, they won't necessarily metabolize the drug the same way because there's genetic variability
Drug interactions:
Many drugs are substrates for the cytochromes P450s (main ones are Sip 3A4 and 2D6) whole bunch of drugs that will be metabolized w these enzymes so its not uncommon that drugs are metabolized by the same cytochrome P450s that an individual has to take
What organ plays the major role in biotransformation?
liver
What is the primary area for metabolism?
liver
Does biotransformation result in inactivation?
yes, usually.
Some drugs, especially those that are very lipid soluble, can go into lipid and be stored from lipid
What is special about drugs and adipose tissue?
If you have an individual that has a lot of adipose tissue and there's a potential that this individual is on medication that can be stored in lipid, some will get stored there over time.
If that individual ends up losing some of that adipose tissue, that drug can be released back into the central compartment
Free drug that travels to unwanted sites of action:
bind to receptors there (this is where you have your adverse effects)
What are the two main mechanisms of adverse effects:
1: You can have a drug that binds to the same receptor type that causes your therapeutic effect just in a different area of the body and that causes an adverse effect
- Ex: opioids - bind to opioid receptors in the brain (analgesic effects). But you also have opioids that bind to opioid receptors in the GI tract = you get constipation (adverse effect)
2: drugs are not 100% selective. Pharmacologists try to develop drugs that as selective as possible; they bind to one receptor type only. But there are a whole ton of medications out there that are not completely selective
What can sometimes happen is : you have a medication that binds to one receptor & causes therapeutic effect, but may bind to other receptors of the body & often it binds to receptors that cause adverse effects
Free drug that undergoes biotransformation:
Making that drug more water soluble so that it can be excreted
- Predominantly occurs in the liver
- For some medications, once they're bio transformed, they can be excreted directly through the feces (that's a relatively small number of drugs).
- Predominantly, after a drug is bio transformed or metabolised, metabolites end up going back into central compartment (blood) and then once they're lipid soluble enough, they'll go through the kidney and be excreted through the urinary
What are the main cytochromes p450?
Sip 3A
and
2D
renal excretion (kidney) through urine
How do drugs cross the membrane? (3)
Membrane permeation:
a) filtration via pores
b) passive diffusion
c) active transport
Which processes require drugs to cross the membrane?
a) absorption
b) distribution
c) excretion
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
d) all of the above
In nature, what are membranes?
lipoid in nature: we have to have enough lipid solubility of a drug to be able to cross those membranes
What is the most common mechanism for drugs & membrane permeation?
passive diffusion
What is membrane permeation?
Absorption, distribution and excretion all require drugs to cross membranes (lipid in nature, so require active transport, diffusion and filtration via pores)
Drug permeation via pores:
Uncommon because drug has to be really small
- Ex: ethanol (chemical structure = 2 carbon chain; very small and can actually fit through pores)
- Its going down a concentration gradient
