PupilMD
PupilMD
Learning Medicine By First Understanding
LibraryYear 2Pharmacology
💊Pharmacology · Year 2

Pharmacodynamics — How Drugs Act on the Body

What drugs do to the body — receptors, enzymes, ion channels, and the mechanisms behind every drug you will ever prescribe.

⏱️Under 90 mins
📖15 sections
🧃Grasp Tonics included
Marable™ storytelling
🎓Teaching Receipt™
Begin Module
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What You'll Learn

The four drug target classes and how each produces drug effects
The four receptor superfamilies and their signalling timescales
Full agonists, partial agonists, antagonists, and inverse agonists
Potency vs efficacy — EC₅₀, Emax, and the therapeutic index
Second messenger systems — cAMP, IP₃/DAG, and calcium
Enzyme inhibition mechanisms — competitive vs irreversible
Ion channel pharmacology — local anaesthetics, CCBs, benzodiazepines
Receptor regulation — desensitisation, tolerance, withdrawal
Pharmacodynamic interactions — serotonin syndrome, QT prolongation
Adverse drug reactions — Rawlins-Thompson classification
Antibiotic mechanisms of action and resistance
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Source Textbooks

📖Katzung's Basic & Clinical Pharmacology
📖Lippincott Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology
📖Rang & Dale Pharmacology
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Module Sections

0
The Marable™ — The Lock and the Key
1
Introduction to Pharmacodynamics — Drug Targets & Mechanisms
2
Receptors — Classification & Signal Transduction
3
Agonists, Antagonists & Partial Agonists
4
Dose-Response Relationships — Potency, Efficacy & the Therapeutic Index
5
Second Messenger Systems & Signal Amplification
6
Enzyme Inhibition as a Drug Mechanism
7
Ion Channel Pharmacology
8
Receptor Regulation — Desensitisation, Tolerance & Sensitisation
9
Pharmacodynamic Drug Interactions
10
Adverse Drug Reactions — Classification & Mechanisms
11
Pharmacodynamics in Clinical Drug Classes
12
Pharmacodynamics of Antimicrobials — Mechanisms of Action & Resistance
13
Teaching Receipt™ — Pharmacodynamics
14
Deep Dive — Allosteric Pharmacology, Biased Agonism & GPCR Drug DiscoveryDeep Dive

The Marable™ Approach + Grasp Tonics

This module begins with a story about a locksmith and a stranger with many keys — mapping drug-receptor interactions onto a world you already understand. Grasp Tonics throughout provide vivid analogies to solidify each pharmacodynamic concept.

Begin Module