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  1. Home
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  4. /Intro Pharmacology
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Intro Pharmacology

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Intro Pharmacology

Understand how drugs interact with the body at the receptor level: the foundation for medication safety.

Drug-Receptor Basics

How medications produce their effects

Most drugs work by binding to receptors on cells. The drug-receptor interaction determines whether the drug activates or blocks a cellular response.

Agonist

Binds to receptor and ACTIVATES it. Mimics the natural ligand. Example: Morphine (opioid agonist)

Antagonist

Binds to receptor and BLOCKS it. Prevents the natural ligand from activating. Example: Naloxone (opioid antagonist)

Clinical Connection

Naloxone reverses opioid overdose by competing for the same receptors. It's an antagonist that displaces the agonist (morphine/fentanyl) from opioid receptors.

Drug absorption routes: oral, intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, and topical pathways showing drug molecules entering systemic circulation

Drug absorption routes showing how medications enter systemic circulation through different pathways

Pharmacokinetics Overview

What the body does to the drug

Pharmacokinetics pathway: drug journey through absorption from GI tract, distribution via bloodstream, metabolism in the liver, and excretion through kidneys

Pharmacokinetics: the four-step journey of a drug through absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion

Pharmacology Check

1/10

An AGONIST drug at a receptor will:

Pre-nursing comprehensive review

1/20

Which organelle contains its own DNA and is inherited exclusively from the mother?

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