PHARMACOLOGY AND PHARMACOTHERAPY

Course objectives

General expected learning outcomes The aim of the course is to provide a comprehensive preparation to the graduate in CTF regarding the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile, adverse effects, pharmacological interactions, and toxicological aspects of the main classes of drugs, as well as their use as a therapeutic tool. Specific skills and technical vocabulary necessary to understand the drug characterization process and to describe their use in therapy will also be provided, as well as skills related to future therapeutic prospects and the rationale for designing new approaches and new drugs that selectively intervene in relevant biological mechanisms in different pathological conditions. 1. Knowledge and understanding Knowledge acquired expected: Origin and development of drugs; pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the drugs in use; adverse effects and interactions between drugs. Students also have the basic knowledge necessary for the use of drugs in the medical field and the development of drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. The student will know qualitative and quantitative aspects of the receptor drug interaction, principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the main classes of existing drugs (drugs of the nervous system, analgesic drugs, cardiovascular drugs, sexual and cortical steroids, respiratory drugs, digestive drugs, drugs of inflammation, antimicrobial chemotherapeutics, antituberculous chemotherapeutic agents, antifungals, antiprotozoal, antiviral, anthelmintics, antineoplastic drugs, immune system drugs). The student should also acquire ability to exercise critical skills and judgment on the real effectiveness and safety of use of commercial products containing herbal drugs. The applicative autonomy (in the real life) of the concepts learned and the related objectives achieved, will also be made possible by the tools that will be provided to the student during the course, including: scientific literature to refer to, institutional websites, etc., in addition to reference teaching texts. 2. Applying knowledge and understanding Expected acquired skills: Addressing issues related to the development and use of drugs. By the end of the course, the student will be familiar with the most important and widespread therapeutic issues and the therapeutic solutions available to doctors to effectively manage and treat various pathologies. 3. Making judgements The lessons will be all interactive, in which the teacher will ask the students continuous questions to stimulate them and develop their critical sense. These questions will also serve to evaluate students to make connections, integrating the pharmacology and drug therapy considering the already acquired knowledge, biological type (basic pharmacology, anatomy human, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology). Through these interactive sessions, the student will be able to develop judgment autonomy in the field of pharmacotherapy. The course aims to train future operators who are capable, with total independence, of dispensing and properly advising the public on medicines, self-medication products, and health products. 4. Communication skills Communication skills will be stimulated and developed throughout the entire course. Students will be exposed to dynamic lessons that include in-class question-and-answer sessions and flipped classroom lessons, in which they will play a part themselves in teaching under the guidance of the teacher. Student progress will be evaluated solely through an oral exam, which will cover all program topics, testing the student's ability to communicate what they have learned. 5. Learning skills The student will find the deepening of what he heard in class on the recommended texts, institutional websiets and databases (e.g. Pubmed). The texts will remain the reference point of the student who will know where to go to find in detail the notions that are partly forgotten. Moreover, the student will also have the ability to independently undertake more advanced studies such as those aimed at professional specializations by attending post-graduate courses, specialized schools, and research doctorates, also by participating in mobility programs with foreign countries.

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MARTA VALENZA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Biological drugs and new frontiers in therapy. RNA pharmacology. Antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic medications. Principles of anticancer therapy. Main signal transmission pathways (mediated by catecholamines, choline, purines, histamine, GABA and glutamate, opioid peptides, endocannabinoids) Drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system and central nervous system General and local anaesthetics. Hypnotics and sedatives. Drugs for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Drugs active in the treatment of epilepsy. Drugs used in the treatment of degenerative disorders of the CNS. Centrally acting analgesics. Anti-inflammatory drugs. Antipyretic drugs. Analgesic drugs and pain therapy. Immunomodulatory drugs: immunostimulants and immunosuppressants. Anti-gout drugs. Drugs acting on the respiratory system. Drugs used in the treatment of asthma. Respiratory stimulants and pulmonary surfactants. Medicines used in the treatment of cough. Medicines that affect renal and cardiovascular function Diuretics. Medicines used for the treatment of myocardial ischaemia. Antihypertensives. Medications used in the treatment of heart failure. Antiarrhythmic medications. Medications used in the treatment of dyslipidaemia. Medications that affect gastrointestinal function Agents used to control gastric acidity and treat peptic ulcers. Prokinetic, antiemetic, antidiarrhoeal and laxative agents. Hormones and their antagonists. Pharmacology of the endocrine pancreas. Insulin and other hypoglycaemic agents. Treatment of obesity and related syndromes. Medications acting on the blood and haematopoietic organs. Medications acting on bone metabolism.
Prerequisites
To understand the contents of the didactic activities, the student is recommended to possess knowledge of basic pharmacology, physiology, biochemistry and pathology. It is also important to possess knowledge of human anatomy.
Books
- Katzung, Master, Trevor. “General and clinical Pharmacology” - Goodman & Gilman “Pharmacological basis of therapeutics”
Frequency
Class attendance is recommended to allow the student not only to acquire specific knowledge concerning the subject of the course, but also to develop communication skills and technical language through interaction with the teacher. Furthermore, the student will be stimulated to formulate judgments and critical sense regarding the topics studied in the class.
Exam mode
The exam dates are set in advance and published on the Infostud and e-learning platforms. The aim of the exam is to certify the knowledge acquired in the various areas of the programme. In addition to the student's specific preparation on exam topics, their reasoning skills and ability to communicate using appropriate technical language are also assessed. P Written exam: approximately 60 minutes to answer 31 questions. Some questions will test theoretical knowledge, while others will test practical skills in applying the knowledge acquired. To be admitted to the oral exam, a mark of at least 18/30 is required. This will be followed by an oral exam in which the ability to communicate using appropriate technical language and the ability to make connections between the various topics learned will be assessed. The duration of the oral examination may vary, but an average duration of approximately 20 minutes can be assumed. The final mark will assess knowledge as follows: 18 = sufficient knowledge; 19-23 = fair knowledge; 24-27 = good knowledge; 28-30 = excellent knowledge; 30 with honours = excellent knowledge. Translated with DeepL.com (free version) The final mark will assess knowledge as follows: 18 = sufficient knowledge; 19-23 = fair knowledge; 24-27 = good knowledge; 28-30 = excellent knowledge; 30 with honours = excellent knowledge. Grades will be divided as follows: 18 = sufficient knowledge; 19-23 = fair knowledge; 24-27 = good knowledge; 28-30 = excellent knowledge; 30 with honours = excellent knowledge.
Lesson mode
Lectures, PowerPoint presentation and guided exercises in the classroom. The teaching method mainly includes lectures that involve the use of power point, databases (e.g. PubMed) and projections of short movies related to pharmacological issues that can stimulate the critical sense. All these tools will be used to promote interactive discussions in the classroom. The lectures will deal with the topics included in the program, focusing in particular on the topics that are more difficult for the student to understand and suggesting links between the various topics of the program that can help the student to tackle the study even independently.
  • Lesson code10612251
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseIndustrial pharmacy REPLICA LATINA
  • CurriculumCurriculum unico
  • Year4th year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDBIO/14
  • CFU8