Courses with Gaps

Introduction: Medicines and discovery processes. Initial stages: Target discovery; applications of molecular biology, in silico methods and assays; lead discovery; lead optimization; biomarkers. Measurement of drug properties: assay techniques; agonists (full, partial, inverse and biased); competitive antagonists. In vivo models; pharmacokinetic profiles of compounds; pharmacogenetics and formulations. Pre-clinical safety assessment including acute toxicity evaluation, subacute and chronic toxicity studies, reproductive toxicity, carcinogenicity studies, mutagenicity and mechanistic toxicity studies. Limitations of preclinical studies. Problems associated with drug discovery and development. Later stages: Pharmaceutical development; phases of clinical evaluation; ethics (informed consent, good clinical practice, participation criteria, sponsorship) and concepts in clinical trial design. Pharmacovigilance. e-Learning Activity Links are provided to additional resources (further reading, videos, on-line activities) to support the lecture content. Online self-assessment modules on the course content can be provided for formative feedback. Practical: Experiments are designed to reflect the topics covered including spectrophotometry, chromatography, flow cytometry.

Historical development of microbiology and the effects on health. Morphology of bacteria and fungi. Nutritional needs of microorganisms. Cultivation and isolation methods for microorganisms. Diagnostic techniques in relation to culture determination. Bacteria growth in culture and respective phases including death. Formation of colonies. Metabolism in microbial systems. Genetics (introductory). Introductory parasitology.

Introduction - Theory of Chemical Neurotransmission Evidence for Acetylcholine as a Cholinergic neurotransmitter. Detection and Bioassay of acetylcholine. Cholinergic receptors, sites of action of acetylcholine at the Neuromuscular junction. Agonists and antagonists of cholinergic transmission. Parasympathomimetic and parasympatholytic drugs. Structure – Activity Relationships among the cholinergic and anticholinergic agents. Cholinesterases and anti- cholinesterases. Properties and uses of anti-cholinesterases (reversible and irreversible). Brief mention of cholinesterase reactivators (pralidoxime, obidoxime) and their uses. Neuromuscular transmission and drugs which enhance neuromuscular transmission. Neuromuscular Blockade. Smooth muscle relaxants. Ganglion stimulation and blockade and their properties.

Variability in biological data: continuous and discontinuous variables. statistical sampling procedures. observations and problems of estimation. representation and summarisation of biological data. frequency distribution. measures of central tendency and dispersion. Probability theory. normal, binomial and Poisson distribution. t-test, f-test and chi-square test. analysis of variance (ANOVA) and covariance. principles of experimental design. correlation, linear and curvilinear regression and transformation.

Introduction to immune system: Definitions, types (adaptive and innate), B and T lymphocytes, chemical mediators (cytokines, interleukenes, antibodies, and many others). Abnormal immune responses: Hypersensitivity (Type I, II, III, IV), Autoimmunity, immunodeficiency diseases. Immunosuppressive drugs: Glucocorticoids, Calcineurin inhibitors, Anti-proliferatives (mycophenolate e.t.c), cytotoxic agents, Antibodies, RhO (D) immune globulin, Monoclonal antibodies, (rituximab and many others). Cytokines: Interferones, TNF – alpha, and many others. Drug allergy, Tumor markers for solid tumors. Antigraft rejection drugs. Steroidal and non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Used in the treatment of gout. Practical: Designed to reflect experimental models of the topics taught above.

The heart; events of the cardiac cycle. Control of cardiac contractility. Cardiac electrophysiology. Properties of cardiac muscles. Cardiac output - measurement and control. Haemodynamics of circulation. Arterial blood pressure and its regulation. Cardiovascular reflexes. Peripheral resistance and local control of the circulation. Regional blood flow. Cardiovascular changes in exercise, haemorrhage and shock. Respiratory physiology – functions of upper respiratory tract. Mechanics of respiration including compliance. Surfactant. Lung volume and capacities. Pulmonary gas exchange. Blood gas transport. Pulmonary function tests. Nervous and chemical control of respiration. Response to hypoxia, high altitude, exercise and artificial respiration.

Fundamental concepts and techniques of organic chemistry. Functional group chemistry. Strengths of acids and bases. Introduction to stereochemistry of compounds. Molecular symmetry, racemisation and resolution methods.

Pattern of transmission of single gene trait. Hardy-Weinberg Law Conditions for its Validity, application. On concepts of continuous and discontinuous variation. Pharmacogenetics (drug metabolism, tissue metabolism and receptor alterations). Compartment models (one and two) kinetics after intravenous and oral dosing. Bioavailability, Drug distribution, Protein binding. Renal excretion of drugs. Urinary excretion data in Pharmacokinetic analysis.

Introduction: Drug – receptor interaction; affinity and [intrinsic activity; occupancy theory; Rate Theory; Drug receptor interactions; law of mass action, enzyme-substrate interaction. dose- response relationship – Graphical and Derivation of receptor affinity PD2; Competitive Antagonism. The Gaddum-Schild Equation for Affinity constant of competitive antagonists; Non-competitive antagonism, Partial agonist; Competitive non-competitive antagonism. Pharmacodynamic prediction from pharmacokinetic data (one compartment model). Receptor desensitisation, Mechanisms of Post-receptor transduction. Introduction to Biostatistics, Normal distribution, Mean probit transformation, standard Deviation and standard Error. T-tests paired and unpaired, chi- square Test, Analysis of variance, Poisson Distribution. Physiology and Pharmacology courses are the minor and major courses in a BSc Pharmacology programme worldwide. Students must therefore be well grounded in them upon graduation to be able to pursue a successful career. Physiology provides the theoretical basis of normal body function while pharmacology explains how drugs and chemicals exert correction in situations of altered physiology. These two courses transverse all organs/systems of the human body and span 200 to 400 Levels of the BSc Pharmacology programme.