State Medical Faculty Diploma in Pharmacy Final Exam flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Absolute bioavailability

The fraction of an administered dose reaching systemic circulation intact, calculated as (AUC oral × Dose IV) divided by (AUC IV × Dose oral), expressed as a percentage.

Noyes-Whitney equation

Describes dissolution rate as proportional to surface area and solubility difference, and inversely proportional to diffusion layer thickness, explaining why particle size reduction speeds dissolution.

Friability test

A tablet quality test in which tablets are tumbled in a drum; weight loss below about one percent indicates adequate mechanical strength for handling and packaging.

Sterility assurance level

The probability of a single viable microorganism surviving sterilization; a level of 10⁻⁶ is conventionally required, achieved by validated moist heat cycles.

First-pass metabolism

Hepatic and gut-wall elimination of an orally absorbed drug before it reaches systemic circulation, which lowers oral bioavailability and may require dose adjustment.

Henderson-Hasselbalch equation

Relates pH to pKa and the ratio of ionized to unionized drug; for weak acids pH equals pKa plus log of the conjugate base to acid ratio.

Prodrug

An inactive derivative that is converted in the body to the active drug, usually to improve absorption, stability, or targeting; ester and amide prodrugs are common.

Bioisosterism

Replacement of a functional group by another with similar size, shape, or electronic properties, such as carboxyl by tetrazole, to retain activity while altering properties.

Hückel rule

A planar cyclic conjugated system is aromatic when it contains 4n+2 pi electrons; this rule explains the stability of benzene, pyrrole, furan, and thiophene.

Beer-Lambert law

Absorbance equals molar absorptivity times path length times concentration; it underpins spectrophotometric assay of drugs in solution over validated linear ranges.

Enantiomers

Pairs of molecules that are non-superimposable mirror images with identical achiral properties but opposite optical rotation and often different biological activity.

Alkaloid definition

Basic nitrogen-containing plant secondary metabolites such as morphine and quinine, usually extracted by acidification, basification, and partition into organic solvent.

Cardiac glycosides

Plant glycosides such as those from digitalis that inhibit sodium-potassium ATPase, increasing intracellular calcium and cardiac contractility at therapeutic doses.

Tannins

Polyphenolic plant constituents that precipitate proteins; classified as hydrolyzable, yielding gallic or ellagic acid, or condensed proanthocyanidins.

Essential oils

Volatile, steam-distillable plant terpenoids such as menthol and eugenol, distinguished from fixed oils, which are non-volatile triglyceride esters.

Dragendorff reagent

An alkaloid detection reagent containing bismuth and iodine that gives an orange-red precipitate with most alkaloids in pharmacognostic chemical testing.

Therapeutic index

The ratio of the toxic dose to the effective dose in a population; a low value indicates a narrow safety margin requiring monitoring.

Competitive antagonist

A drug that binds reversibly at the same receptor site as the agonist, shifting the dose-response curve rightward without reducing the maximal response.

Loading dose

A larger initial dose calculated as volume of distribution times target plasma concentration, used to reach therapeutic levels rapidly before maintenance dosing.

CYP450 induction

Increased hepatic enzyme synthesis by drugs such as rifampicin, which lowers plasma concentrations of co-administered substrates and can cause therapeutic failure.

Paracetamol antidote

N-acetylcysteine, which replenishes hepatic glutathione and detoxifies the reactive metabolite NAPQI; it is most effective when given within eight to ten hours of overdose.

Organophosphate poisoning

Irreversible acetylcholinesterase inhibition causing cholinergic crisis; treated with atropine for muscarinic effects and pralidoxime to reactivate the enzyme before aging.

Prescription-only medicine

A medicine legally dispensed only against a prescription from a registered practitioner, as defined by the national schedule or classification of medicines.

Prescription legal requirements

A valid prescription must show prescriber name and registration number, patient details, drug name, strength, dose, quantity, and date before dispensing.

Spurious drug

A product falsely representing another drug, or containing the wrong or no active ingredient; it must be quarantined and reported, never dispensed or sold.

Narcotic record-keeping

Controlled substances require secure storage, dedicated registers, prescription retention, and periodic reconciliation, with unauthorized dispensing constituting a criminal offence.

Pharmaceutical care

The responsible provision of drug therapy to achieve definite outcomes that improve quality of life, requiring detection and resolution of drug-related problems.

SOAP note

A standardized clinical documentation format with subjective, objective, assessment, and plan sections used to record and communicate pharmacist interventions.

Therapeutic drug monitoring

Measurement of plasma drug concentrations for drugs with narrow therapeutic index and good concentration-effect correlation, such as digoxin, lithium, and vancomycin.

Hospital formulary

A continually reviewed list of selected medicines approved by the pharmacy and therapeutics committee on grounds of efficacy, safety, cost, and availability.

Cost-utility analysis

A pharmacoeconomic evaluation expressing outcomes as cost per quality-adjusted life year, allowing comparison of interventions across different disease areas.

Naranjo scale

A validated questionnaire scoring the probability that an adverse event was caused by a drug, classifying causality as definite, probable, possible, or doubtful.