Pharmacodynamics

• Stochastic


  Word pharmacologists use to describe the randomness of drugs on a molecular level
• Dose response curve


  Curve showing how the higher the dosage, the more active its corresponding receptor gets (meaning more efficacy)
• Ligands


  Substances that are able to bind to receptors
• Agonist ligands


  Chemical substances that can activate receptors. Can be full or partial
• Full agonist


  Substance that can activate a receptor to the highest degree at high concentrations (100% on the dose response curve)
• Partial agonist


  Substance that can only kind of activate a receptor regardless of its concentrations because it's not a perfect fit
• Inverse agonist


  Cause the opposite response of an agonist
• Competitive antagonist


  Stops the agonist from triggering a receptor by binding to it first with no effect, but do nothing if there's no agonist. The more present, the higher the agonist dose necessary to keep working. Naloxone is a common one
• Allosteric modulators


  Chemicals distinct from agonists or antagonists that target the allosteric site which lets them change the potency of the drugs that will later bind to them by changing the excitability of molecules within a cell
• Positive allosteric modulator (PAM)


  Increases the potency of a drug when it binds to a receptor
• Negative allosteric modulator (NAM)


  Decreases the potency of a drug when it binds to a receptor
• Allosteric site


  3D configurations on the extracellular side of a receptor that, when bound with, can increase or decrease the potency of the reactions that the agonist would have with it
• Dirty drugs


  Drugs with many sites of action (react with multiple receptors)
• One of the few drugs using allosteric modulators is benzodiazepines like Valium, which increases GABA potency and reduces anxiety