Drug class

.
A drug class is a set of medications and other compounds that have similar chemical structures, the
same mechanism of action (i.e., bind to the same biological target), a related mode of action, and/or
are used to treat the same disease.[1][2]
In several dominant drug classification systems, these four types of classifications form a hierarchy.
For example, the fibrates are a chemical class of drugs (amphipathic carboxylic acids) that share the
same mechanism of action (PPAR agonist), mode of action (reducing blood triglycerides), and are
used to prevent and to treat the same disease (atherosclerosis). Conversely not all PPAR agonists
are fibrates, not all triglyceride lowering agents are PPAR agonists, and not all drugs that are used to
treat atherosclerosis are triglyceride lowering agents.

Contents

 1Comprehensive systems
 2Chemical class
 3Mechanism of action
 4Mode of action
 5Therapeutic class
 6Amalgamated classes
 7Attributes
 8Legal classification
 9References
 10External links

Comprehensive systems
 Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC) - most widely used. Combines
classification by organ system and therapeutic, pharmacological, and chemical properties.
 Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) - includes a section devoted to drug
classification

Chemical class
Examples of drug classes that are based on chemical structures include:

 β-lactam antibiotic
 Benzodiazepine
 Cardiac glycoside
 Fibrate
 Thiazide diuretic

Mechanism of action
Drug classes that share a common molecular mechanism of action by modulating the activity of a
specific biological target.[3] The definition of a mechanism of action also includes the type of activity
at that biological target. For receptors, these activities include agonist, antagonist, inverse agonist,
or modulator. Enzyme target mechanisms include activator or inhibitor. Ion channel modulators
include opener or blocker. The following are specific examples of drug classes whose definition is
based on a specific mechanism of action:

 5-Alpha-reductase inhibitor
 Angiotensin II receptor antagonist
 ACE inhibitor
 Alpha-adrenergic agonist
 Beta blocker
 Dopamine agonist
 Dopamine antagonist
 Incretin mimetic
 Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug − cyclooxygenase inhibitor
 Proton-pump inhibitor
 Renin inhibitor
 Selective glucocorticoid receptor modulator
 Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
 Statin – HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor

Mode of action
Drug classes that are defined by common cellular mode of action include:

 Diuretic
 Cholinergic
 Dopaminergic
 GABAergic
 Serotonergic

Therapeutic class
Drug classes that are defined by their therapeutic use include:

 Analgesic
 Antibiotic
 Anticoagulant
 Antidepressant
 Anticancer
 Antiepileptic
 Antipsychotic
 Antiviral
 Sedative
 Antidiabetic

Amalgamated classes
Some drug classes have been amalgamated from these three principles to meet practical needs.
The class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is one such example. Strictly speaking,
and also historically, the wider class of anti-inflammatory drugs also comprises steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs. These drugs were in fact the predominant anti-inflammatories during the decade
leading up to the introduction of the term "nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs". Because of the
disastrous reputation that the corticosteroids had got in the 1950s, the new term, which offered to
signal that an anti-inflammatory drug was not a steroid, rapidly gained currency. The drug class of
"nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs" (NSAIDs) is thus composed by one element ("anti-
inflammatory") that designates the mechanism of action, and one element ("nonsteroidal") that
separates it from other drugs with that same mechanism of action. Similarly, one might argue that
the class of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD) is composed by one element
("disease-modifying") that albeit vaguely designates a mechanism of action, and one element ("anti-
rheumatic drug") that indicates its therapeutic use.

 Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)

 Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)

Attributes
 Biopharmaceutics Classification System - by solubility and intestinal permeability

Legal classification
 For the UK legal classification, see Drugs controlled by the UK Misuse of Drugs Act
 For the US legal classification, see Controlled Substances Act § Schedules of controlled
substances
 Pregnancy category is defined using a variety of systems by different jurisdictions