1 / 9

Chapter 20

Chapter 20. Introduction to Central Nervous System Pharmacology. CNS Drugs. Agents that act on the brain and spinal cord Medical uses Psychiatric disorders, suppression of seizures, pain relief, production of anesthesia Nonmedical uses

tyrone
Download Presentation

Chapter 20

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 20 Introduction to Central Nervous System Pharmacology

  2. CNS Drugs • Agents that act on the brain and spinal cord • Medical uses • Psychiatric disorders, suppression of seizures, pain relief, production of anesthesia • Nonmedical uses • Stimulant, depressant, euphoriant, and other “mind-altering” abilities

  3. Transmitters of the Central Nervous System • Currently, there are 22 known transmitters. • More are likely to be discovered.

  4. The Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB) • Impedes entry of drugs into the brain • Passage across the BBB limited to lipid-soluble drugs • Protein-bound or highly ionized drugs cannot cross • Mixed blessing of BBB

  5. How Central Nervous System Drugs Produce Therapeutic Effects • Precise mechanism vs. plausible hypotheses

  6. Adaptation of the CNS to Prolonged Drug Exposure • Different effects possible when drug is taken chronically vs. initial use of drug • Increased therapeutic effects • Decreased side effects • Tolerance and physical dependence

  7. Development of New Psychotherapeutic Drugs • Complexity of mental health • Lack of adequate animal models of mental illness • Mentally healthy individuals cannot be used as subjects • No effect or paradoxical effects • Psychopharmacologic accidental discoveries

  8. Development of New Psychotherapeutic Drugs • The Process • Structural analogs synthesized • Biochemical and physiologic screening tests • Serious toxicity ruled out, then tested in humans • Small advances vs. major therapeutic breakthroughs

  9. Approaching the Study of CNS Drugs • Key points for study: Recognize that • there are numerous neurotransmitters. • their precise functional roles are not clear. • their complexity makes it difficult to know with certainty just how CNS drugs produce their effects.

More Related