The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Dose-Duration Curve: The curve describing the relationship between dose (as the independent variable) and duration of drug effect (as the dependent variable, T). The slope of the curve is always positive, in contrast to… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Definitions
Pharmacodynamics definitions. Receptor desensitization
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Desensitization: A decline in the response to repeated or sustained application of an agonist that is a consequence of changes at the level of the receptor. The copyright of the text is hold by…
Pharmacodynamics. Cross tolerance definition
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Cross-Tolerance: Tolerance to a drug that generalizes to drugs that are chemically related of that produce similar affects. For example, a patient who is tolerant to heroin will also exhibit cross-tolerance to morphine. The…
Pharmacokinetics. Compartment(s) definition
The following pharmacology definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Compartment(s): The space or spaces in the body, which a drug appears to occupy after it has been absorbed. Pharmacokinetic compartments are mathematical constructs and need not correspond to the fluid volumes of the…… Continue Reading
Clinical trials. Cross-Over Experiment definition
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Cross-Over Experiment: A form of experiment in which each subject receives the test preparation at least once, and every test preparation is administered to every subject. At successive experimental sessions each preparation is “crossed-over”…… Continue Reading
Pharmacokinetics. First order kinetics definition and animation.
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. First Order Kinetics: According to the law of mass action, the velocity of a chemical reaction is proportional to the product of the active masses (concentrations) of the reactants.… Continue Reading
Pharmacokinetics. A definition of clearance (renal and non renal)
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Clearance: The clearance of a chemical is the volume of body fluid from which the chemical is, apparently, completely removed by biotransformation and/or excretion, per unit time. In fact, the chemical is only partially…… Continue Reading
Pharmacodynamics. Ceiling definition
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Ceiling: The maximum biological effect that can be induced in a tissue by a given drug, regardless of how large a dose is administered.… Continue Reading
Pharmacokinetics topics. What is a generic drug?
This generic drugs definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine . Generic Drugs: Drug formulations of identical composition with respect to the active ingredient, i.e., drugs that meet current official standards of identity, purity, and quality of active ingredient. Drug dosage forms considered as…… Continue Reading
Pharmacodynamics topics. What is intrinsic efficacy (intrinsic activity)?
A definition of the pharmacodynamic concept of intrinsic efficacy (intrinsic activity).… Continue Reading
Alpha 1 adrenergic receptors antagonists (blockers): mechanism of action animation
Additional information about alpha 1 blocking drugs. Source: Bertram G. Katzung, Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (Mc Graw-Hill Medical, 2007) ” Phentolamine, an imidazoline derivative, is a potent competitive antagonist at both alpha 1 and alpha 2 receptors . Phentolamine causes a reduction in peripheral resistance through blockade of alpha 1 receptors and possibly alpha 2…… Continue Reading
Pharmacokinetics. What is clearance -volume/unit time- (Cl, Clx)?
The following pharmacological definition has been taken from the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Department Glossary at Boston University School of Medicine. Cl, Clx: Clearance – in volume/unit time – of a drug or chemical from a body fluid, usually plasma or blood, by specified route(s) and mechanism(s) of elimination, as indicated by a subscript, e.g.,…
Pharmacokinetics. What is steady state concentration (Css)?
Pharmacokinetics. Definition of the term steady state in clinical pharmacology.… Continue Reading
Pharmacokinetics. What are Cmax and Cmin?
A definition of Cmax and Cmin in clinical pharmacokinetics.… Continue Reading
Are you a visual learner interested in learning psychopharmacology? Click here to get our videos