General Pharmacology (Theory)

Introduction to Pharmacology a) Definition, historical perspectives, branches of pharmacology and their scope, drug, nature and sources of drugs, International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and International Non-proprietary Names (INN) for drugs b) Concept of generic medicines, essential drugs and rational drug use (RDU). Indian initiatives to promote these concepts. c) Routes of drug administration along with their advantages and disadvantages.

Pharmacokinetics a) Drug absorption, mechanisms of drug absorption, membrane transporters, bioavailability, bioequivalence, factors affecting drug absorption. b) Drug distribution in different compartments, volume of distribution, storage sites, plasma protein binding and its therapeutic importance. c) Drug biotransformation, microsomal, non- microsomal metabolism and cytochrome P450 enzyme system, phase I and II reactions, first-pass metabolism, entero-hepatic cycling, concept of prodrugs. d) Drug excretion and its kinetics.

Pharmacodynamics a) Types drug action and mechanisms of drug action, dose response relationship. b) Receptor theories, structure of receptors, classification and regulation of receptors, spare receptors. Concept of agonist, inverse agonist, partial agonist and antagonist. c) Signal transduction mechanisms of receptors. d) Factors modifying drug action including the concepts of tachyphylaxis, idiosyncrasy, drug tolerance, dependence, addiction, and the combined effect of drugs (Additive effect & Synergism). e) Adverse drug reactions (ADR) and types of ADRs. f) Drug interaction, types, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic drug-drug interactions.

Overview of drug discovery and evaluation of new drug a) Brief discussion on drug discovery and preclinical evaluation of new drugs. b) Human relevant screening techniques: Reconstructed human epidermis, organ-on- Chip model, skin irritancy test by reconstructed corneal epithelium, skin corrosivity testing by Direct Peptide Reactivity Assay. c) Advantages and disadvantages of in vitro and in silico Pharmacological screening and evaluation Recent trends in pharmacology a) Chronopharmacology: Introduction, biological clock, types of rhythms, hormones, diseases and drugs affected by circadian rhythm. Introduction to chrono kinetics and importance of chronotherapeutic and future scope. b) Introduction, general principles, applications and scope of Pharmacogenomics, Gene therapy, Biosimilars and Precision medicine.

Toxicology a) Introduction to toxicology and its branches. Classification of poisons based on actions and lethal doses, types of antidotes. b) General principles of treatment of acute poisoning include heavy metal poisoning. Management of poisoning. c) Definition and basic knowledge of preclinical toxicity testing-acute toxicity, sub-acute toxicity, combined chronic and carcinogenicity testing as per OECD norms. d) Basic understanding of principles of genotoxicity and teratogenicity as per OECD guidelines. e) Definition and concepts of safety pharmacology as per ICH and OECD guidelines.