Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • describe the main interactions between a drug and the human body;

  • analyze the pharmacokinetic processes a drug undergoes in the body;

  • determine and interpret the main pharmacokinetic parameters of a drug.

  • describe and interpret the main pharmacodynamic properties of a drug.

Goals

This course aims to provide students with the fundamental concepts of pharmacology necessary to understand the interactions between drugs and the human body. It covers the principles of pharmacokinetics, which describes the fate of a drug in the body, and pharmacodynamics, which focuses on the effects of drugs and their mechanisms of action. By the end of the course, students will be able to apply this knowledge to understand and analyze the fate of drugs in the body, their mechanisms of action, and their main pharmacological effects. The course also aims to develop students’ ability to determine and interpret the main pharmacokinetic parameters and to establish relationships between the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of a drug and its effects. The course integrates concepts from genetics, biochemistry, physiology, and signal transduction.

Content

  • Lectures

  1. From Compound to Drug: Discovery and Development

  2. Pharmacokinetics

  3. Pharmacodynamics

  4. Pharmacogenomics

  • Tutorials

Tutorial 1

  • Fundamentals of pharmacokinetics

  • Passive diffusion (pH/pKa)

  • IV bolus administration in a one- or two-compartment model

Tutorial 2

  • Multiple dosing (oral administration) and slow infusion: specific considerations in renal and hepatic impairment

Tutorial 3

  • Scaling in vitro clearance (CL), based on a metabolic model, to estimate individual hepatic clearance

Tutorial 4

  • PK (pharmacokinetic) and PD (pharmacodynamic) studies in special populations:

    • Newborns

    • Children

    • Pregnant and breastfeeding women

    • Older adults

Table of contents

  • Lectures

  1. From Compound to Drug: Discovery and Development

  2. Pharmacokinetics

  3. Pharmacodynamics

  4. Pharmacogenomics

Exercices

  • Tutorials

Tutorial 1

  • Fundamentals of pharmacokinetics

  • Passive diffusion (pH/pKa)

  • IV bolus administration in a one- or two-compartment model

Tutorial 2

  • Multiple dosing (oral administration) and slow infusion: specific considerations in renal and hepatic impairment

Tutorial 3

  • Scaling in vitro clearance (CL), based on a metabolic model, to estimate individual hepatic clearance

Tutorial 4

  • PK (pharmacokinetic) and PD (pharmacodynamic) studies in special populations:

    • Newborns

    • Children

    • Pregnant and breastfeeding women

    • Older adults

Pre-requisites

General physiology [MMEDB222]

Teaching methods

Mix of ex cathedra and inverted teaching combined with tutorials illustrating the pharmacokinetic concepts covered in class.

Assessment method

Oral examination assessing theory and exercises based on open questions, True/False questions and exercises.

The distribution of the mark is as follows:

- The chapters From Compound to Drug: Discovery and Development, Pharmacodynamics and Pharmacogenomics are graded /10

- The Pharmacokinetics chapter and the Tutorials are graded /10.

Sources, references and any support material

The PowerPoint slideshow, the practical booklet, and the research and review articles that support the study are available on Webcampus.

Suggested textbooks:

  • General and Molecular Pharmacology (Edited byClementi & Fumagalli), WILEY

  • Pharmacology (Edited by Hacker, Bachman, Messer), Elsevier-Academic Press

  • Pharmacologie (Edited by Landry & Gies), Dunod

Language of instruction

French