Basic Principles of Pharmacology (Part 1)

The use of various drugs according to their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics requires a basic understanding of the principles. In short, pharmacokinetics describes the way the body treats a drug after it enters the body and aims to quantify the processes involved in the biodisposition of a drug, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.

As part of this quiz, we will explore and learn more about the most commonly used terms in pharmacology to gain a better understanding of how drugs are measured and interact in the body.

  • Question of

    The catalysts that increase the rate of virtually all the chemical reactions within cells.

    • Enzyme
    • Endocytosis
    • Poisons
    • Receptor

    Correct Wrong

    In biology, enzymes are biological catalysts, and they are almost always proteins. Enzymes accelerate chemical reactions within cells.

  • Question of

    An area of medicine concerned with the study of how drugs or medications work.

    • Pharmacology
    • Toxicology
    • Pharmacogenomics
    • Pharmacodynamics

    Correct Wrong

    The study of a drug's or medication's action in the body is called pharmacology.

  • Question of

    Study of how chemicals adversely affect living organisms.

    • Toxicology
    • Antagonist
    • Prodrug
    • First pass effect

    Correct Wrong

    The study of toxicology helps us understand how chemicals, substances, or situations can harm people, animals, or the environment.

  • Question of

    A macromolecule found inside or outside of the cell membrane that binds specifically to a ligand (drug).

    • Receptor
    • Inducers
    • Agonist
    • Substrates

    Correct Wrong

    The term receptor refers to macromolecules found in the membrane or inside a cell which specifically (chemically) bind to ligands (drugs). The creation of chemical bonds between a drug and a receptor is required for the drug to bind to a receptor.

  • Question of

    The study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs.

    • Pharmacogenomics
    • Pharmacokinetics
    • Therapeutic index
    • Bioavailability

    Correct Wrong

    In pharmacogenomics, genes are studied to understand how they affect drug response. The relatively new field of pharmacogenomics combines pharmacology with genomics (the study of genes and their functions) to create medications and doses that are safe, effective, and customized to the individual.

  • Question of

    It is a chemical that binds to a receptor and activates it so a biological response occurs.

    • Agonist
    • Antagonist
    • Chirality
    • Cytokine receptors

    Correct Wrong

    An agonist is a drug or substance that binds to a receptor on the surface of a cell or inside a cell and produces the same action as the substance that normally binds to the receptor. Heroin, for example, mimics the action of endorphins on the μ-opioid receptors in the nervous system.

  • Question of

    A drug or substance that stops the action or effect of another substance.

    • Antagonist
    • Agonist
    • Substrates
    • Poisons

    Correct Wrong

    Drugs or substances that act as antagonists are those that block the action or effect of another substance. An estrogen receptor antagonist, for instance, blocks the stimulating effect of estrogen on tumor cells.

  • Question of

    Those substances which cause death, injury, or organ damage.

    • Poisons
    • Inducers
    • Receptor
    • Inhibitors

    Correct Wrong

    A poison is a substance that, when exposed to sufficient amounts, may harm or kill an individual, typically through chemical reaction or other molecular activity.

  • Question of

    In essence, it means mirror-image molecules that cannot be superimposed.

    • Chirality
    • Potency
    • Toxicology
    • Bioavailability

    Correct Wrong

    A chiral molecule is essentially a mirror-image, non-superimposable molecule, and to say that it is chiral means that it cannot be superimposed with itself. A molecule's chirality or achirality is determined by a set of overlapping conditions.

  • Question of

    The study of the effects and modes of action of drugs upon the body.

    • Pharmacodynamics
    • Pharmacokinetics
    • Half-life
    • Phenotype

    Correct Wrong

    In pharmacology, pharmacodynamics studies the effects and modes of action of drugs on the body.