Master’s in Pharmacology

Explore autonomic nervous system basics, including sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions, their outflows, fiber lengths, neurotransmitters, preganglionic/postganglionic organization, and the fight-or-flight versus rest-and-digest functions.

Explore the cholinergic system and parasympathetic signaling, detailing acetylcholine synthesis, release, metabolism, and receptors (nicotinic and muscarinic M1–M3), plus drugs that modulate parasympathetic action.

Understand direct and indirect cholinergic drugs like pilocarpine, bethanechol, methacholine, carbachol, and cevimeline, and how acetylcholinesterase inhibitors boost acetylcholine for parasympathetic effects.

Discuss indirect cholinergic drugs, highlighting physostigmine versus neostigmine, their brain penetration, and uses in myasthenia gravis, cholinergic crisis testing, cobra bites, and Alzheimer’s therapy.

Learn about irreversible cholinergic poisons, including organophosphates and carbamates, their muscarinic and nicotinic effects, and treatments like atropine and oxime reactivators.

Explore the adrenergic system, its sympathetic thoracolumbar origin with short preganglionic and long postganglionic fibers, noradrenaline synthesis, alpha and beta receptors, and reuptake-blocking drugs.

Discuss sympathomimetic drugs, direct and indirect actions, uptake inhibition or displacement of noradrenaline, with cocaine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and amphetamine; note tachyphylaxis and uses in narcolepsy and attention disorders with methylphenidate.

Explore direct and indirect adrenergic drugs, detailing catecholamines vs noncatecholamines, COMT's role, and receptor-specific actions on blood pressure, renal perfusion, and heart rate.

Explore the adrenergic system, detailing noradrenaline and adrenaline actions on alpha and beta receptors, their uses in shock, heart failure, asthma, anaphylaxis, and the roles of blockers and vasomotor reversal.

Explains the antiadrenergic system with selective and nonselective alpha blockers, their vasodilatory and prostatic effects, and uses in hypertension, BPH, and pheochromocytoma.

Master beta blockers' classifications—nonselective and cardioselective—with partial agonists, membrane stabilizing properties, and third-generation agents offering alpha blockade or nitric oxide–mediated vasodilation for heart and non-heart disease uses.

Explore autocoids as local body factors, including peptide, amino acid, and lipid types, with histamine and serotonin highlighted; examine histamine receptors H1–H4 and generation-based H1 blockers and interactions.

Explain lipid autacoids and prostaglandin synthesis from membrane phospholipids to arachidonic acid, via the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways, producing prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes.

Examine how lipid autacoids regulate inflammation through prostaglandin and leukotriene pathways, focusing on COX inhibitors, non-selective versus COX-2 inhibitors, and the safety profiles of NSAIDs.

Analyze serotonin pathways in migraine, focusing 5-HT receptors, CGRP-driven inflammation and vasodilation, and review treatments from triptans to CGRP antibodies and prophylaxis strategies.

Explain how digoxin, a cardiac glycoside, blocks the Na+/K+ pump to increase intracellular calcium and contractility, with vagomimetic effects for atrial fibrillation in congestive heart failure.

Explain how digoxin increases contractility by inhibiting the sodium-potassium pump, discuss toxicity and interactions, and outline chronic heart failure management with raas blockade, diuretics, vasodilators, and beta blockers.

Explore new congestive heart failure therapies, including nesiritide and neprilysin inhibitors like sacubitril, vasopeptidase inhibitors, ARB-neprilysin combinations, ivabradine, and vasopressin antagonists conivaptan and tolvaptan.

Explore antihyperlipidemic drugs, focusing on statins and ezetimibe, their HMG-CoA reductase inhibition and NPC1L1 mediated cholesterol absorption blockade, with drug choices, dosing, indications, and interactions.

Master’s in pharmacology introduces antiarrhythmic drugs and their five class framework. It focuses on sodium channel blockers (1a–1c) and beta blockers, with drug examples and uses.

Explore antiarrhythmic classes three to five, including potassium and calcium channel blockers, digoxin, adenosine, and atropine, with torsades de pointes risk and amiodarone’s multi-class actions.

the lecture outlines antihypertensive drug classes, highlighting thiazide diuretics as first line, vasodilators like nitroprusside and hydralazine, and blockers that reduce blood pressure.

Identify angina pectoris types—exertional and vasospastic—and explain nitrate mechanisms while outlining four anti-anginal drug classes: nitrates, calcium channel blockers, potassium openers, and beta blockers.

Explore management of shock, from cardiogenic and hypovolemic to distributive, applying cab, fluid resuscitation, and targeted therapies like inotropes, vasopressors, antimicrobials, and steroids.

Antihyperlipidemic drugs center on statins that inhibit HMG-CoA reductase to lower cholesterol and upregulate LDL receptors, with ezetimibe reducing intestinal cholesterol absorption.

Explore the third to fifth antihyperlipidemic groups—fibrates, bile acid binding agents, and niacin—and how they lower triglycerides, bind bile acids, and modulate lipids for hyperlipidemia management.

Explore new antihyperlipidemic drugs, including Pcsk9 inhibitors (inclisiran, alirocumab, evolocumab), lomitapide, mipomersen, and cetp inhibitors like anacetrapib, and their LDL-lowering mechanisms.

This lecture covers osmotic diuretics, especially mannitol, and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, detailing their action in the proximal tubule and roles in cerebral edema and glaucoma.

Learn loop diuretics, thiazides, and potassium-sparing agents, their actions on the loop of Henle, DCT, and collecting duct, and their uses in edema, hypertension, and calcium management.

Explore the pituitary–hypothalamic system, detailing anterior and posterior pituitary hormones, hypothalamic releasing and inhibitory controls, and pharmacology applications for diabetes insipidus, acromegaly, endometriosis, and syndrome of inappropriate ADH.

Explore the combined effects of drugs by examining addition or summation, synergism, potentiation, and antagonism. Use examples like co-trimoxazole and levodopa–carbidopa to see how interactions enhance or reduce drug efficacy.

Explore thyroid physiology, T3 and T4 synthesis, hypothyroidism, and antithyroid drugs, including levothyroxine, liothyronine, thioamides, goitrogens, and thyroid storm management.

Explain calcium balance in osteoporosis and the roles of vitamin D, calcitonin, and PTH, then review pharmacologic options from calcium and vitamin D to bisphosphonates and new therapies.

Explore natural estrogens e1, e2, e3 and their phase-specific predominance. Review selective estrogen receptor modulators, down regulators, tissue-selective activators, aromatase inhibitors, and related drugs such as raloxifene and tamoxifen.

Explore how selective estrogen receptor modulators and downregulators, aromatase inhibitors, and tibolone shape breast cancer treatment and hormone replacement, plus progesterone generations and selective progesterone receptor modulators.

Explain testosterone metabolism to dihydrotestosterone via five alpha reductase and androgen receptors. Note five alpha reductase inhibitors finasteride and dutasteride, and androgen receptor inhibitors, for prostate cancer and hyperplasia.

Explains how oral contraceptives prevent pregnancy through combined estrogen-progestin and progestin-only regimens, emergency contraception options, mechanisms like ovulation inhibition, cervical mucus, and implantation, plus side effects and health benefits.

Explain the pancreas' alpha, beta, and delta cells and the roles of glucagon and insulin in blood sugar control; cover diabetes uses, insulin routes, analogs, and adverse effects.

Explore oral antidiabetic drugs that lower blood sugar by increasing insulin from beta cells (sulfonylureas, glinides) and by insulin-independent routes (metformin, glitazones, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors).

Explore the latest antidiabetic drugs, including incretin-based therapies with GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP inhibitors, SGLT2 inhibitors, amylin analogs like pramlintide, and bromocriptine.

Learn how sedatives and hypnotics differ: barbiturates mimic GABA and extend channel opening, while benzodiazepines facilitate GABA and increase opening frequency.

Delve into z-drugs as non-benzodiazepine insomnia treatments, compare sleep architecture effects with benzodiazepines, and review ramelteon and orexin blockers for sleep maintenance.

Explore how antiepileptic drugs depress CNS overstimulation by boosting GABA, inhibiting glutamate, and blocking calcium or sodium channels, with benzodiazepines, barbiturates, tiagabine, vigabatrin, pregabalin, and gabapentin.

Explore antiepileptic mechanisms targeting glutamate via NMDA and AMPA receptors, and calcium and sodium channels, with focal and absence seizure drugs like carbamazepine, ethosuximide, lacosamide, and topiramate.

Introduce psychiatric illness, differentiating psychosis from neurotic disorders. Outline mood disorders (mania, depression, bipolar) and neurotic categories (general anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bulimia, phobias), and explain insight differences.

Explore typical antipsychotics, their D2 blockade, and extrapyramidal side effects, including dystonia, akathisia, parkinsonism, tardive dyskinesia, and malignant neuroleptic syndrome; learn drug choices for these conditions.

Examine atypical antipsychotics, their D2 blockade, and key drugs such as olanzapine, clozapine, risperidone, ziprasidone, and pimavanserin, plus related side effects and lipodystrophic syndrome.

Antipsychotics provide antiemetic effects via D2 blockade but have side effects; they treat acute mania and bipolar disorder in pregnancy, Huntington's chorea, and Tourette syndrome.

Explore lithium-based treatment for mania, including acute mania management with antipsychotics or benzodiazepines, lithium as mood stabilizer, and key pharmacokinetics, monitoring, and toxicity considerations.

Explore how lithium treats mania and depression by modulating neurotransmitter signaling through GPCR-Gq pathways, IP3–DAG calcium signaling, and phosphatase inhibition, plus boosts in BDNF via GSK-3β blockade.

Levodopa with carbidopa increases brain dopamine to treat Parkinson’s, while MAO-B inhibitors and COMT inhibitors, and dopamine agonists (ergot and non-ergot) help manage on-off and dyskinesias.

Explains how monoamine deficiency lowers brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neuroplasticity, contributing to depression. Outlines typical antidepressants, including MAO inhibitors and reuptake inhibitors, and contrasts SSRIs with nonselective options.

Explore atypical antidepressants, including bupropion for smoking cessation, amoxapine's antipsychotic effects, mirtazapine's alpha-2 blockade, esketamine NMDA inhibition, and brexanolone for postpartum depression.

Explain haematinics and growth factors acting on blood cells, cover iron deficiency anemia management with oral and injectable iron, and contrast folate and B12 deficiencies and their effects.

Introduce growth factors that stimulate erythropoiesis, leukopoiesis, and thrombopoiesis, including erythropoietin, G-CSF, GM-CSF, thrombopoietin receptor agonists, and lusutrombopag and avatrombopag for liver disease surgery.

Introduce respiratory drugs for cough and bronchial asthma, detailing dry and productive coughs and the roles of mucolytics and expectorants, including guaifenesin, potassium iodide, ambroxol, bromhexine, acetylcysteine, and dornase alfa.

explains bronchial asthma pathophysiology via IgE-mediated mast cell degranulation and leukotriene-induced bronchoconstriction, and reviews bronchodilators including beta-2 agonists, M3 blockers, and theophylline with interactions.

Explains leukotriene-mediated bronchial asthma and how LOX inhibitors and receptor blockers (montelukast, zafirlukast, zileuton) plus inhaled corticosteroids (beclomethasone, budesonide, ciclesonide prodrug) and mast cell stabilizers control prophylaxis and acute symptoms.

Explore how mucosal protection and acid secretion balance underlie peptic ulcer disease. Learn M1, H2, PGE2 stimulators, and proton pump inhibitors to reduce HCl production.

Discuss fast-relief antacids that neutralize existing acid, ulcer protectives such as sucralfate and colloidal bismuth subcitrate, and H. pylori triple therapy with clarithromycin, amoxicillin, metronidazole plus a ppi.

Explore laxatives and purgatives for constipation, including bulk and osmotic agents, stool softeners, stimulants, chlorine channel and guanylate cyclase activators, and peripherally acting opioid antagonists.