General pharmacological principles and allied sciences
1. Historical aspects of drug discovery
1) Landmarks in the growth and development of pharmacology
2) Wonder discoveries in pharmacology
i. Nobel laureates in pharmacology and their revolutionary discoveries
ii. Important contributions of renowned Indian pharmacologists
2. General pharmacological principles
1) Source, nature and preparations of drugs
2) Principles and modes of drug administration
i. Dosage forms & drug delivery systems
3) Pharmacokinetic principles and parameters
i. Absorption
ii. Distribution
iii. Metabolism (Biotransformation)
1. Drug metabolizing enzymes
iv. Elimination
4) Theories and mechanism of drug action (Pharmacodynamics)
i. Physiological and biochemical basis of drug action
1. Molecular targets of drug action
ii. Drug receptors and pharmacodynamics
iii. Dose response relationships
1. Concentration-response relationships
iv. Factors modifying drug action (response)
5) Drug transporters
6) Adverse effects of drugs
i. Pharmacovigilance & ADR monitoring
1. Hemovigilance
2. Materiovigilance
3. Cosmetovigilance
4. Addictovigilance
7) Drug interactions
i. Synergism
ii. Antagonism
iii. Adverse drug interactions
8) Structure-activity relationships
i. Steroids
ii. Antihistamines
iii. Catecholamines
iv. Opioids
v. Antipsychotics
3. Special topics in pharmacology
1) Drug information and sources of drug information
i. Use of information technology
2) Pharmacogenetics, Pharmacogenomics and Personalized medicine
3) Chronopharmacology
4) Pharmacoepidemiology
i. Drug utilization studies
ii. Therapeutic audit
5) Ethnopharmacology
i. Role of medicinal plants
ii. Isolation of compounds from herbal sources
6) Pharmacoeconomics
7) Orphan drugs & diseases
8) Fixed dose combinations
9) Translational medicine
i. Reverse pharmacology
10) Gene therapy
11) Stem cell therapy
12) Principles of prescription writing
i. Over the counter drugs
1. Therapeutic & Toxic Potential
4. Toxicology
1) Environmental, Occupational and Industrial Toxicology
i. Environmental – heavy metal
1. Arsenic
2. Mercury
3. Lead
4. Cadmium
ii. Nonmetallic environmental toxicants
1. Air pollutants
2. Insecticides
3. Rodenticides
4. Fungicides
5. Herbicides
6. Fumigants
2) Basic principles of diagnosis and treatment of drug poisoning
i. Clinical features of common poisoning
ii. Applied analytical toxicology
iii. Antidotes in the management of poisoning
1. Heavy Metal Intoxication and Chelators
iv. Toxicovigilance
5. Molecular Biology in Pharmacology
1) Gene expression
2) Proteomics
3) Techniques involved in studying receptor dynamics
4) PCR
5) Northern blot, Southern blot and Western blot
6) Protein purification
7) Molecular biology in receptor identification
8) Antisense oligonucleotides
9) Recombinant DNA technology
Dr. Gerard Marshall Raj. D holds an M.B.B.S. and M.D. in Pharmacology. Currently, he is working as an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Pharmacology, Sri Venkateshwaraa Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Puducherry, India. He has published two book chapters, one on ‘Intellectual Property Rights in Drug Development and Biotechnology’ in the book ‘Intellectual Property Issues in Biotechnology’ (CABI; ISBN: 9781780646534) and the other on ‘Intellectual Property Issues Surrounding Antimicrobial Agents’ in the book ‘Intellectual Property Issues in Microbiology’ (Springer-Nature; ISBN: 9789811374654). He was awarded the ‘Prof. M. N. Ghosh Gold Medal’ for outstanding performance during the M.D. Pharmacology course at JIPMER, Puducherry and has published many research articles, reviews, commentaries, case reports and letters-to-the-editor in peer-reviewed and indexed journals.
Dr. Ramasamy Raveendran, Dean(Research) -cum- Professor (Senior Scale) and Head of Pharmacology, JIPMER, Puducherry, graduated from the University of Madras and obtained his M.D. degree in Pharmacology from JIPMER, Puducherry and his Diploma in Clinical Pharmacology from St Bartholomew’s Medical College, London, UK. With over 34 years of research and teaching experience, his main interests include Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) and toxicology. He has authored 55 research papers, 7 CAL software packages and 1 book. He has also conducted more than 50 workshops on research methodologies, biomedical communication and biostatistics throughout India. He was chief editor of the Indian Journal of Pharmacology from 2001 to 2006 and is currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics (since 2010). Further, as the Dean (Research) of JIPMER, he is coordinating all research activities at the premier institute.
This book illustrates, in a comprehensive manner, the most crucial principles involved in pharmacology and allied sciences. The title begins by discussing the historical aspects of drug discovery, with up to date knowledge on Nobel Laureates in pharmacology and their significant discoveries. It then examines the general pharmacological principles - pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, with in-depth information on drug transporters and interactions. In the remaining chapters, the book covers a definitive collection of topics containing essential information on the basic principles of pharmacology and how they are employed for the treatment of diseases.
Readers will learn about special topics in pharmacology that are hard to find elsewhere, including issues related to environmental toxicology and the latest information on drug poisoning and treatment, analytical toxicology, toxicovigilance, and the use of molecular biology techniques in pharmacology. The book offers a valuable resource for researchers in the fields of pharmacology and toxicology, as well as students pursuing a degree in or with an interest in pharmacology.