Ateneo - UPO

General principles of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic. General principles of neurotransmission and drugs acting on synaptic and junctional levels. General operating principles of various types of membrane receptors. General principles of intracellular signals. General principles of transcriptional control and execution. General principles of cell proliferation and cell death.

Notes, hand-outs and lecture slides will be fundamental. Alongside, one of the following textbooks is advisable:

• Farmacologia generale e molecolare. Clementi Francesco - Fumagalli Guido. UTET editore.
• Goodman and Gilman: Le Basi Farmacologiche della Terapia. McGraw Hill.

This course is part of the following set of interlinked courses with a continuum of objectives:

- Farmacognosia e Fitoterapia (II year)
- Farmacologia e Farmacoterapia (IV year)
- Tossicologia e Laboratorio di Farmacologia (IV year)
- Opzione farmacologica (pre-clinica e clinica; IV year)

The course, in specific, aims to:
Supply the student with the fundamental notions of pharmacology
Give the student all the elements to study more advanced courses regarding drugs and pharmacology.
Acquire the ability to critically appraise drugs.

- To provide basic knowledge on the general aspects of the drug (pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters) as well as of the molecular basis of cell function in the perspective of possible pharmacotherapy applications, providing the critical tools for understanding the experimental approaches in the identification and characterization of drugs.

There are no formal requirements, although having acquired the basis of anatomy, biology, pathology, chemistry, physiology and biochemistry is necessary to gain maximum benefit from the course.

The course contents will be transmitted through oral presentations supported by explanatory multimedia about the different topics included in the program. It will be stimulated the active participation of the student through the recall of concepts already addressed in other courses, which relate to various aspects of the drug and the disease.
During the COVID-19 emergency period, it is possible that some lectures will be recorded and give nto students through the DIR platform. This would be accompanied by live videoconferences.

none

Oral examination.
Oral examination is performed by asking to the student some questions related to topics indicated in the course programme and given during the specific classes. To obtain positive results, the student must show a sufficient level of knowledge and of associative capabilities related to the different arguments; he/she must show that he understood and knows the critical concepts of the various topics. Greater levels of knowledge together with a demontrated capability of application of this background to the practice leads to an evalutation superior to that required for the minimal score. To obtain a high level of evaluation the student has to be able to utilize his/her knowledge to debate deeply some of the critical aspects of the different topics.

PRINCIPLES OF PHARMACOLOGY
Definition of pharmacology
Classification and nomenclature
Chemical drugs , Biological drugs, Advanced therapies
Routes of administration
Pharmacokinetics: ADME, drug interactions, pharmacogenetics, main formulas and parameters in PK
Examples of drugs to exemplify the importance of pharmacokinetics (e.g. local anaesthetics)
Pharmacodynamics, dose-response curves, therapuetic indexes, drug-receptor interaction and theories, binding investigations,
Pharmacological modulation of receptors.
The main neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, catecholamines, serotonin, GABA, glutamate
Preclinical and clinical studies
Individual response to drugs

MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY
Receptors and signal transduction:
Overview (membrane and intra-cellular receptors), control of the localization, neurotransmitter release mechanisms, ion channels, channel receptors, G-protein coupled receptors, receptors for growth factors, cell adhesion molecules, second messengers (e.g.: cAMP, cGMP, calcium, IP3). Pharmacological modulation of the response: agonists, antagonists, blockers, inhibitors, partial agonists, inverse agonists.
Examples: cholinergic system, GABA receptor, local anesthetics

The immune system: immunocompetent cell populations, cytokines and receptors, biotech drugs of immunological relevance

Modulation of gene expression:
- Chromatin and its structural organization
- Epigenetic modifications (e.g.:methylation, acetylations)
- Gene Transcription
- Intracellular Receptors
- MicroRNA regulating the transcriptional program
- Introduction to Gene Therapy

Control of cell proliferation:
- Cell cycle
- Apoptosis
- General aspects of antineoplastic chemotherapy

The student will know the general principles of pharmacology and will be able to apply this knowledge in more advanced pharmacology and medicinal chemistry courses