Ateneo - UPO

The course will deal with the description of the main active substances used and their classification within medical therapy.

The main text is “The Pharmacological Bases of Therapy” Goodman & Gilman.
Considering the number of credits of the course and the depth of the text above, the use of an alternative text "Pharmacology" (Rand and Dale) is considered sufficient, as long as it is integrated with class notes and further information when the student finds the material in the book insufficient text for one's understanding of the subject. The exclusive use of the material provided in class is considered insufficient.
Examples of additional sources of information are the scientific literature, the EPARs of centrally authorized drugs (www.ema.europa.eu), the summary of product characteristics (SPC, available on the internet on various sites) and the Osmed report (www.aifa.gov.it) which will contextualize the current use of drugs in Italy.

1) Provide the bases and skills for understanding pharmacotherapy and its rational development;
2) Provide knowledge on the main classes of active susbstances and on the specific drugs available;
3) Provide solid training for the evaluation of new drugs that may emerge in the professional future of learners.

A drug is defined for its ability to modify a biological system, understood at the molecular, cellular, organ or system level. For a better use of the course the learner must therefore have skills in chemistry, biology, molecular biology, general pathology, immunology, and physiology. The Special Pharmacology Course is also the normal continuation of the General Pharmacology Course, which is held in the third year of the Degree Course.

Frontal lectures. They will be frontal with the aid of slides, which will be made available to students at the end of the lesson and, in part, on the dedicated IT platform (DIR). The lessons will include the main topics of the program, but may not be exhaustive and are not intended as a substitute for the textbook. In fact, the lessons aim to explain a method of approach to the pharmacological issue and not to transmit only a notional knowledge.

Some lessons will be held by Prof. Condorelli.

The exam will be oral and it will evaluate (i) the knowledge acquired on the drug classes; (ii) the ability to correctly classify the individual active substances in their respective pharmacological classes and describe their main distinctive features; and (iii) the ability to integrate arguments. Students will be asked to describe one or more therapeutic classes, of which they will have to list the main active substances, mechanisms of action, uses, peculiarities and side effects and will be asked to recognize individual drugs.

From 18 to 21: sufficient knowledge of the topics covered, sufficient ability to deal with the topics transversally and to place knowledge in context and sufficient ability to place the individual active substances in the correct therapeutic use;

From 22 to 24: good knowledge of the topics covered, good ability to deal with the topics transversally and to place knowledge in context and good ability to place the individual active substances in the correct therapeutic use;

From 25 to 27: more than good knowledge of the topics covered, more than good ability to tackle the topics transversally and to place knowledge in context and more than good ability to place the dugs in the correct therapeutic use;

From 28 to 30: excellent knowledge of the topics covered, excellent ability to deal with the topics transversally and to place knowledge in context and excellent ability to place the individual active substances in the correct therapeutic use.

Topics of general pharmacology (these topics may also be declined for individual drugs and pharmacological classes):
- The risk-benefit as a cornerstone of pharmacology;
- Therapeutic and prescriptive appropriateness;
- Evidence-based medicine and narrative medicine;
- On-label and off-label uses, the therapeutic indications of a drug
- Interactions in pharmacology;
- International and national guidelines;
- Utility and limits of pharmacogenetics;
- The ATC classification of medicines and the concept of DDD;
- The IUU nomenclature;
- The reimbursement regime for a medicine in Italy and the supply regime;
- The AIFA limiting notes on prescribing;
- Peculiarities of biological and biotechnological drugs;
- Generic and biosimilar drugs.
- Principles of anti-blast chemotherapy;
- General principles of anti-microbial chemotherapy;

Special Pharmacology (knowledge of the mechanisms of action of the main pharmacological classes, pharmacokinetics and therapeutic implications, therapeutic uses, names of the main drugs and their peculiarities, main guidelines and place in therapy)
Drugs that affect the cholinergic system;
Drugs that act on the adrenergic system;
Parkinson's disease medications;
Medicines for the main neuropsychiatric diseases (anxiety, depression, psychosis, insomnia);
Drugs for epilepsies;
Local and general anesthetics;
Muscle relaxants and botulinum toxin;
Glaucoma medications;
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
Anti-histamines;
Cortisones;
Medicines for disorders related to gastric secretion;
Pain therapy medications;
Medicines for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
Immunosuppressive drugs and drugs used in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (including biological / biotechnological drugs);
Anti-bechic and expectorant drugs;
Anti-emetic drugs;
Drugs for hypercholesterolemia and dyslipidemia
Diuretics
Medicines for arterial hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension drugs
Erectile dysfunction medications
Medicines for myocardial infarction
Heart failure medications
Medicines for cardiac arrhythmias
Clotting drugs
Medicines for diabetes
Drugs that affect bone mineral homeostasis
(Hormones and their antagonists)

Anti-neoplastic chemotherapy:
Principles of oncological therapy, cytotoxic therapies vs target therapies
Classes of antineoplastic chemotherapy:
Anti-metabolites
Mitotic spindle inhibitors (including new generation)
Inducers of DNA damage
Alkylating agents
Topoisomerase inhibitors
Hormonal therapies
Biological response modulators (HDACi, PARPi, proteasome inhibitors, thalidomide derivatives)
Protein kinase inhibitors
Monoclonal antibodies
Immunotherapies
Cellular therapies
Anti-microbial chemotherapy:
General principles of anti-bacterial therapy
Chemotherapy and antibacterial antibiotics:
Active drugs on the bacterial wall
Sulfonamides, trimethroprim-sulfamethoxazole
Quinolones
Anti-tuberculous therapy
Protein synthesis inhibitors
Antiviral chemotherapy.

The student will learn the main pharmacological classes and the specific drugs available, knowing their mechanism of action and therapeutic application. After taking this course, the student will also be able to evaluate new drugs that may emerge in the professional future of the learners.