General Principles of Pharmacology CE

The General Principles of Pharmacology CE provides information about drugs and the basis
for determining efficacy, potency, and toxicity of the drugs. It emphasis pharmacotherapy, which
is the use of drugs in the prevention and treatment of disease and explains how the application of
pharmacokinetic principles can be influenced differently by each patient and their variables. The
readings contained detailed information about all of the rules and regulations that play a role in
drugs and their prescriptions including, the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914, the Durham-
Humphrey Amendment of 1951, the Controlled Substances Act of 1070, and the Food and Drug
Administration. Aside from rules and regulations, it’s important to know the effects of drugs on
the body. The CE explains the pharmacodynamic mechanisms which directly regulate the effects
of drugs on the human body. Pharmacokinetic processes play a role in absorbing a drug and
helping it get distributed to the site where it is then binded for metabolizing. While the type of
drug and its uses are all different, the effects a drug can have on one patient can greatly differ
than the effects the same drug has on another patient. It can depend on age, weight, and many
other factors.
In 1820, the U.S Pharmacopeia was published and was a great milestone in history. It listed
standards for drug strength and purity while giving a direction for synthesis. It was and still is
important that manufacturers and clinicians are protected. The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914
was established to help mandate prescriptions for drugs/products containing narcotics. The
Durham-Humphrey Amendment of 1951 was created for drugs that can’t be safely used without
medical supervision but includes other drugs aside from narcotics. The Controlled Substance Act
of 1970 can be found in Title 21, Section 1308, Code of Regulations and was created to collect
legislations related to drugs that could potentially be abused. It puts these drugs in schedules
based on accepted medical use and gives regulations for manufacturing, dispensing, and
distribution of those abuse potential drugs. The FDA is something that most students, including
myself have at least heard of before reading this CE. The Food and Drug Administration contains
approximately 500 ingredients/agents that are FDA approved.
A main topic in this reading was to understand and have a conceptual basis of drug action.
Drugs interact with specific receptors to achieve their therapeutic and adverse effects. While
ionic bonding and hydrogen bonding seem to be the common in drug-receptor interactions due to
little energy, there are many different channels drugs can target and bind.
Pharmacodynamic mechanisms was another topic that had emphasis in the reading. The
purpose of pharmacodynamic mechanisms is to regulate the effects of drugs on the human body.
When it comes to dose-response relationships, there are two major types: graded and quantal.
Drugs have drug receptors that can be in an active state or an inactive state. Drugs can favor to
its active receptor and produce an agonist. There are many different agonist that can occur,
depending on different factors. Like stated before, pharmacodynamic mechanisms provide
quantitative information that helps give a basis for determining potency, efficacy, and the
toxicity of drugs. These processes underlie the fate of drugs within the body and help give an
understanding for how certain types of drugs reach their receptors and gives the factors that are
essential to maintain therapeutic healthy steady-state for optimum safety and efficacy.