Pharmacology 3620 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Analgesic, Tylenol (Brand), Paracetamol

• School: Western University
• Department: Pharmacology
• Course: Pharmacology 3620
• Professor: Rommel Tirona

Document Summary

Pharmacodynamics is the quantitative description of the effect of a drug on the body. Most (but not all) drugs exert their effects by binding to specialized macromolecules: i. e. receptors, enzymes. When a drug is bound to a receptor, the receptor becomes activated and produces a biological response. Many drugs mimic endogenous ligands while some drugs block receptors. *note: a ligand is a molecule that binds to a receptor. Ligands may be a drug or an endogenous molecule. *used the analogy of a receptor being a power bar, and plugs being ligands. Example: imatinib binding to bcr-abl kinase protein in gray, drug in blue shape of drug allows it to fit into the binding pocket of the protein. Multiple hydrogen and van der waals forces apply the law of mass action as it applies to drug-receptor binding. Law of mass action: the rate of chemical reaction depends on the concentration of the reactants.