Pharmacology: General Concepts

Medicine is intimately associated with a thorough understanding of clinical pharmacologyPharmacology. Many drugs have been discovered by observing natural materials—for example, plants—and their effects on animals. The physical effect of a drug, either positive or negative, can be observed without the knowledge of its mechanism of action. Modern drug discovery takes a different approach. Starting with a hypothesis that a certain protein is implicated in a disease, small molecules are screened for targeting the protein for the therapeutic effect; these are ultimately tested for a desired effect in basic science and clinical trials. The study of the interaction of the drug with the physiology of the body is the basis of clinical pharmacology. PharmacokineticsPharmacokinetics describes the journey of the drug in the body whereas pharmacodynamicsPharmacodynamics focuses on the physiological effects of the drug. PharmacogenomicsPharmacogenomics evaluate the role of geneticsGenetics in drug response.