PHARMACOGNOSY

General Module

Course Sheet

Course code:

02998

Academic Year of enrolment:

2022

Year of supply:

2023/2024

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of Single Cycle Degree 5 years in PHARMACY

Disciplinary Sector:

Pharmacology

Is part of:

PHARMACOGNOSY AND PHARMACEUTICAL BOTANY - INTEGRATED COURSE

Location:

CHIETI

Divisions:

Cognomi A-G - Professor: RECINELLA Lucia
Cognomi H-Z - Professor: CHIAVAROLI Annalisa

Credits:

Programme Year:

Cycle:

First semester

Obligatory attendance:

Yes

Minimum hours of attendance:

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

Prerequisites:

Prerequisites are not required.
However, students should know Human Anatomy.

Objectives

The Course concerns the study of general pharmacology and plant drugs, describing their possible therapeutic use.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Knowledge and understanding:
At the end of the Course, students will be able to:
- describe the processes of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs and active ingredients of plants, as well as the action molecular mechanisms of these compounds;
- describe the main herbal drugs and active compounds, the pharmacological effects, and their possible rational use in therapy.
Applying knowledge and understanding:
The knowledge acquired during the Course will be used by the students in the workplace, industry and research.
Making judgments:
During the lessons, the discussion of the results of scientific publications aimed to clarify the efficacy, safety and tolerability related to herbal drug rational use will be stimulated.
Communication skills:
Acquisition of clear and appropriate terminology.

Contents

GENERAL PHARMACOLOGY
- Branches of Pharmacology
- Definition and classification of drugs
- Origin and nature of the drugs
- Selective toxicity
- Drug action
- Pharmacodynamic concepts
Pharmacokinetics
- Drug absorption
- Drug distribution in the body
- Drug metabolism or biotransformation
- Drug excretion
- Pharmacokinetic parameters
- Adverse drug reactions
- Combination therapy
- Drug development

PHARMACOGNOSY
- Instability in active compound concentration
- Production and preservation of plant materials
- Plant materials containing carbohydrates
- Plant materials containing fatty acids
- Plant materials containing saponins
- Plant materials containing active steroid compounds
- Plant materials containing essences and resins
- Plant materials containing active phenolic and polyphenolic compounds
- Plant materials containing alkaloids
- Plant materials containing active antitumor compounds
- Plant materials containing active hallucinogenic compounds

Extended Syllabus

GENERAL PHARMACOLOGY
- Branches of Pharmacology.
- Definition and classification of drugs: medicament; poison (or toxic); causal or etiological, pathogenetic, symptomatic, replacement drugs; orphan drugs.
- Origin and nature of the drugs: drug from natural origin, drug from partial chemical synthesis, drug derived from chemical synthesis.
- Selective toxicity.
- Drug action: sites of drug action (local, regional, systemic); factors and conditions affecting drug effect (related to drug, to formulation, to patient, to environment); (main or therapeutic, secondary and side) drug effects.
- Pharmacodynamic concepts: definition, classification and regulation of receptors; agonists, antagonists, partial agonists, inverse agonists; definition of affinity, potency and efficacy; graded and quantal dose-response curves; therapeutic index, margin of safety, therapeutic window.
- Pharmacokinetics: drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion.
- Drug absorption: transfer of drugs across biological membranes (passive diffusion, carrier-mediated transport, endocytosis, exocytosis); Henderson-Hasselbach equation; routes of drug administration (natural and artificial), factors affecting drug absorption (related to drug, to formulation, to patient); delayed absorption.
- Drug distribution in the body: drug binding to plasma proteins and tissue; blood-brain barrier; placental barrier; factors affecting drug distribution.
- Drug metabolism or biotransformation: phase I and phase II reactions; first-pass effect; factors affecting drug metabolism (enzyme induction and inhibition, genetic polymorphism, disease, age, gender).
- Drug excretion: primary and secondary routes of drug excretion; factors affecting drug excretion.
- Pharmacokinetic parameters: bioavailability and bioequivalence; volume of distribution; one- and multicompartment models; (total, renal, hepatic, pulmonary) clearance; first and zero order elimination kinetics; extraction ratio; elimination half-life; drug accumulation; steady-state; loading dose, maintenance dose, therapeutic drug monitoring, drug dosage in children and elderly.
- Adverse drug reactions: type A and type B; idiosyncratic drug reactions; drug allergy; tolerance; tachyphylaxis; drug dependence; withdrawal syndrome; phototoxicity.
- Combination therapy: drug indifference; (physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic) drug interactions.
- Drug development: toxicological animal testing (acute, subacute and chronic toxicity, effects on reproduction, carcinogenic and mutagenic potential); clinical testing (phases I, II, III, IV).
PHARMACOGNOSY
- Instability in active compound concentration: endogenous and exogenous factors.
- Production and preservation of plant materials: drying, stabilization, sterilization; chemical analysis and quality control.
- Plant materials containing carbohydrates: monosaccharides; hexavalent alcohols (manna); disaccharides; polysaccharides (starch, cellulose, dextrans, inulin, pectins, gum Arabic, guar gum, psyllium, alginic acid, agar agar, carrageenan, althaea officinalis, malva, linum, tilia).
- Plant materials containing carbohydrates and short chain organic acid: cassia fistula,tamarindus.
- Plant materials containing lipids: satured fatty acids, unsatured, essential; fatty acid n-3 (omega-3) and n-6 (omega-6); glycerides; food olis; ricinus oil; wax; serenoa, prunus africana, pumpkin.
- Plant materials containing saponins: steroidal (smilax, panax ginseng); terpenoids (polygala, hyppocastanum, quillaja, glycirrhiza).
- Plant materials containing active steroid compounds: digitalis purpurea, digitalis lanata, strophantus, drimia maritime.
- Plant materials containing essences and resins: terpene (citrus aurantium, a. absinthium, a. cina, matricaria recutita, valeriana officinalis, menthe piperita, melissa officinalis, arnica montana, pinus oilresin, canphora, commiphora, boswelia, curcuma longa); phenolic (anisum, foeniculum, acorus calamus, cinnamom, eugenia cariophyllata, thymus, cannabis sativa).
- Plant materials containing active phenolic and polyphenolic compounds: anthraquinones (aloe, cascara sagrada, frangula, rhubarb, senna); flavonoids (ginkgo, hypericum); arbutin (uva ursi); glucoside of the salicylic series (salix); tannin (gall nuts of Aleppo, hamamelis).
- Plant materials containing alkaloids:diterpene (aconitum); tropane (belladonna, hyosciamus, stramonium, coca); imidazole (jaborandi); isoquinoline (opium, hydrastis, boldo, ipecac, curare); indole (rauwolfia, yohimbe, physostigma venenosum, nux vomica, claviceps purpurea); quinoline (cinchona); pyridine and piperidines (betel nut, tobacco, conium, lobelia, punica granatum, piper nigrum capsicum); purine (cocoa, coffea arabica, cola vera, thea sinensis, mate, guarana). Plant materials containing phenylethylamines (ephedra).
- Plant materials containing active antitumor compounds: vinca rosea, podophyllum, taxus, colchicum.
- Plant materials containing active hallucinogenic compounds: peyote, psilocybe, amanita muscaria.

Recommended Bibliography

- Katzung, Farmacologia generale e clinica, Piccin
- Fassina – Ragazzi, Lezioni di farmacognosia – Droghe vegetali, CEDAM
For more informations:
- Rossi – Cuomo – Riccardi, Farmacologia – Principi di base e applicazioni terapeutiche, Edizioni Minerva medica
- Bruni, Farmacognosia generale e applicata – I farmaci naturali, Piccin

Teaching Methods

The Course is made up of 40 hours of frontal teaching, divided into 2 hour lessons, according to the academic calendar, and 12 hours of exercises. Frontal teaching consists of theoretical lessons, mainly with the use of PowerPoint slides. Furthermore, teamworks will be proposed to the students in order to deepen the program topics, with the critical analysis of pre-clinical and clinical studies available in the literature.

A constant participation to the lessons is required.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

For final evaluation a written multiple choice test will be plan. 60 questions (30 of pharmacognosy and 30 of botany) with 5 answers each, only one is correct.
The test will be delivered on the e-learning platform with a link from the course page. The Respondus control software will be active. Evaluation: correct answers +0.5, no answer 0, wrong 0. The final mark will be expressed X/30 and published on the course's e-learning page. Within 3 days student can ask by mail to refuse. Minimal mark to pass the exam: 18.
Test and exam could be taken in english (for foreign students)

Contacts/More Information

PowerPoint slides projected in the classroom during the lessons of Pharmacognosy will be made available to the students at the end of each lesson.

The teacher is available from Monday to Friday, from 9.00 to 13.00 for the reception of the students.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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