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Thursday, March 26, 2020

PTCB - Chapter 12 - Information - Definitions

Primary Literature
- original reports of clinical trials, research, and case studies; use for the most up to date information

Secondary Literature
- general reference works based upon primary literature sources; use to find primary literature

Tertiary Literature
- condensed works based on primary literature (e.g. textbooks); use to find background information or a summary of information

Abstracting Services
- services that summarize information from various primary sources for quick reference

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- a federal law created to protect the privacy of patient health records

Off label indication
- a use of a medication for an indication not approved by the FDA

Orange Book
- the common name for the FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence

Common References
1) AHFS Drug Information (www.ahfsdruginformation.com)
----- use AHFS when investigating off label medication indications (ie. an indication not approved by the FDA)
2) Martindale, The Complete Drug Reference
----- use Martindale to research foreign drugs
3) The Merck Index (www.merckmanuals.com)
----- use The Merck Index when information on chemical attributes of drug is needed
4) Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) (www.pdr.net)
----- the information is similar to pharmaceutical manufacturers' drug package inserts since manufacturers prepare the essential drug information found in the PDR
5) Drug Facts and Comparison (DFC) (www.factsandcomparisons.com)
----- it is used to compare medications in the same therapeutic class
6) American Drug Index
----- use this reference to find trade and generic names
7) Handbook on Injectable Drugs (www.ashp.org)
----- it includes information on preparation, storage, administration, compatibility and stability of injectable drugs
8) King's Guide to Parenteral Admixtures (www.kingguide.com)
----- this reference provides information on injectable drug compatibility and stability, updated quarterly
9) Red Book: Pharmacy's Fundamental Reference (www.redbook.com)
----- it provides the latest pricing information, including nationally recognized AWP's and suggested retail prices for OTC products
10) Orange Book (www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ob/default.cfm)
----- Orange Book is the common name for the FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations. Use the Orange Book to determine the therapeutic equivalence of a brand and generic drug
11) Purple Book
----- biosimilar products of Biotech products

PTCB - Chapter 11 - Factors Affecting Drug Activitiy - Key Concepts

Human Variability
- Differences in age, weight, genetics, and genders are among the significant factors that influence the differences in medication responses among people.
- Drug distribution, metabolism, and excretion are quite different in the neonate and infant than in adults because their organ systems are not fully developed
- Children metabolize certain drugs more rapidly than adults
- The elderly typically consume more drugs and have a higher incidence of drug interactions than other age groups. They also experience more physiological changes that significantly affect drug action.
- Genetics can cause differences in the types and amounts of proteins produced in the body, which can result in different responses to the same drug at the same dose.

Disease States
- The disposition and effect of some drugs may be altered in one patient but not another by the presence of disease. Such changes are well documented in cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, and thyroid disease.

Adverse Drug Reactions
- Almost any drug, in almost any dose, can produce an allergic or hypersensitive reaction in a patient. Anaphylactic shock is a potentially fatal hypersensitivity reaction.
- Anorexia, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea are among the most common adverse reactions to drugs in the GI tract.

Drug-Drug Interactions
- Many drug-drug interactions affect the disposition of one drug and result in either an increased or decreased effect.
- Decreased intestinal absorption of oral drugs occurs when drugs complex to produce nonabsorbable compounds.
- Displacement of one drug from protein binding sites by a second drug increases the effects of the displaced drug.
- Drugs that induce liver metabolism may also increase metabolism of other drugs that use the same metabolizing enzymes.
- Some drugs increase excretion by altering urinary pH and lessening renal reabsorption.
- Some drug-drug interactions do not alter a drug's disposition but interact at the site of action.
- Additive effect occur when two drugs with similar pharmacological actions result in an effect equal to the sum of the individual effects.
- Synergism occurs when two drugs with similar pharmacological actions produce greater effects than the sum of the individual effects.
- Potentiation occurs when one drug with no inherent activity of its own increases the activity of another drug that produces an effect.

Drug-Diet Interactions
- Dietary intake can influence drug action by altering one or all of the ADME processes.
- Some foods contain substances that react with certain drugs, e.g., foods containing tyramine can react with monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors.


PTCB - Chapter 11 - Factors Affecting Drug Activity - Definitions

Pharmacogenomics
- a field of study that defines the hereditary basis of individual differences in absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (the ADME processes)

Cirrhosis
- a chronic liver disease causing loss of function

Obstructive jaundice
- an obstruction of the bile duct that causes hepatic waste products and bile to accumulate in the liver

Acute Viral Hepatitis
- an inflammatory condition of the liver caused by viruses

Hypothyroidism
- a condition in which thyroid hormone secretions are below normal, often referred to as an underactive thyroid

Hyperthyroidism
- a condition in which thyroid hormone secretions are above normal, often referred to as an overactive thyroid

Adverse Drug Reaction
- an unintended side effect of a medication that is negative or in some way injurious to a patient's health

Carcinogenicity
- the ability of a substance to cause cancer

Idiosyncrasy
- an unexpected reaction the first time a drug is taken, generally due to genetic causes

Hypersensitivity
- an abnormal sensitivity generally resulting in an allergic reaction

Anaphylactic shock
- a potentially fatal hypersensitivity reaction producing severe respiratory distress and cardiovascular collapse

Complexation
- when two different molecules associate or attach to each other

Displacement
- a drug that is bound to a plasma protein is removed when another drug of greater binding potential binds to the same protein

Enzyme Induction
- the increase in hepatic enzyme activity that results in greater metabolism of drugs

Enzyme Inhibition
- the decrease in hepatic enzyme activity that results in reduced metabolism of drugs

Additive Effects
- the summation in effect when two drugs with similar pharmacological actions are taken

Synergism
- when two drugs with similar pharmacological actions produce greater effects than the sum of individual effects

Potentiation
- when one drug with no inherent activity of its own increases the activity of another drug that produced an effect

Antidote
- a drug that antagonizes the toxic effect of another

Drug-Drug Interactions examples
- Additive effects
      trimethoprim + sulfamethoxazole for antibiotic effect
      amiodarone + dofetilide for prolongation of hearts QT interval
- Synergism
      aspirin + warfarin = increased anticoagulation (bleeding)
      vancomycin + gentamicin = increased antibacterial effects of gentamicin
- Potentiation
      amoxicillin + clavulanic acid = increased duration of amoxicillin's antibiotic effect
      penicillin + probenecid = increased duration of penicillin's antibiotic effect
- Antidote
      naloxone + morphine = relief of morphine induced respiratory depression
      vitamin K + warfarin = opposition of the anticoagulant effect of warfarin and a return to normal blood clotting time

Drug-diet Interactions
- when elements of ingested nutrients interact with a drug and this affects the disposition of the drug


Saturday, March 14, 2020

PTCB - Chapter 10 - Basic Bio Pharmaceuticals - Key Concepts

How Drugs Work
- The objective of drug therapy is to deliver the right drug, in the right concentration, to the right site of action, and at the right time to produce the desired effect
- Only those drugs able to interact with the receptors in a particular site of action can produce effects in that site. This is why specific cells respond only to certain drugs

Concentration and Effect
- To produce an effect, a drug must achieve a minimum effective concentration (MEC). This is when there is enough drug at the site of action to produce a response
- The range between the minimum effective concentration and the minimum toxic concentration is called the therapeutic window. When concentrations are in this range, most patients receive the maximum benefit from their drug therapy with a minimum of risk
- Therapeutic drug monitoring can be useful when the blood concentration of the drug reflects the concentration at the site of action

ADME Processes and Diffusion
- Blood concentrations are the result of four simultaneously occurring processes: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (the ADME processes)
- Besides the four ADME processes, a critical factor in drug concentration and effect is how drugs move through biological membranes. Most drugs penetrate biological membranes by passive diffusion

Absorption
- One of the primary factors affecting oral drug absorption is the gastric emptying time

Distribution
- Many drugs bind to proteins in blood plasma to form a complex that is too large to penetrate biological membranes, essentially making the drug inactive

Metabolism
- Enzymes catalyze the transformation of drugs to metabolites. Most metabolites are inactive molecules that are excreted

Excretion
- The kidneys filter blood and remove wastes, drugs, and metabolites from the body
- Urinary excretion = glomerular filtration + renal secretion - urinary reabsorption

Bioavailability
- The amount of a drug that is delivered to the site of action and the rate of which it becomes available is called the bioavailability of the drug

Bioequivalence
- Bioequivalent drug products are pharmaceutical equivalents or alternatives that have essentially the same bioavailabilities (ie. rate and extent of absorption) when administered in the same dose of the active ingredient under similar conditions
- Pharmaceutical equivalents  are drug products that contain identical amounts of the same active ingredient in the same dosage form, but may contain different inactive ingredients
- Pharmaceutical alternatives are drug products that contain the identical active ingredient, but not necessarily in the same salt form, same amount, or dosage form

PTCB - Chapter 10 - Basic Bio Pharmaceuticals - Definitions

Agonist
- drugs that activate receptors to accelerate or slow normal cellular function

Antagonist
- drugs that bind with receptors but do not activate them
- they block receptor action by preventing other drugs or substances from activating them

Receptor
- the cellular material located at the site of action that interacts with the drug

Selective (action)
- the characteristic of a drug that makes its action specific to certain receptors and tissues

Site of action
- the location where an administered drug produces an effort

Duration of action
- the time drug concentration is above the MEC

Minimum Effective Concentration (MEC)
- the blood concentration needed for a drug to produce a response

Minimum Toxic Concentration (MTC)
- the upper limit of the therapeutic windows
- drug concentrations above the MTC increase the risk of undesired effects

Onset of action
- the time MEC is reached and the response occurs

Therapeutic window
- a drug's blood concentration range between its MEC and MTC

Active transport
- the movement of drugs from an area of lower concentration to an area of higher concentration; cellular energy is required

Disposition
- a term sometimes used to refer to all of the ADME processes together

Elimination
- the processes of metabolism and excretion

Hydrophilic
- capable of associating with or absorbing water

Hydrophobic
- water repelling; cannot associate with water

Lipoidal
- fat like substance

Passive diffusion
- the movement of drugs from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration

ADME
- blood concentrations are the result of four simultaneously occurring processes
- absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion

Absorption
- the movement of a drug from the dosage formulation to the blood

Gastric emptying time
- the time a drug will stay in the stomach before it is emptied into the small intestine

Complexation
- when different molecules associate or attach to each other

Protein binding
- the attachment of a drug molecule to a plasma or tissue protein, effectively making the drug inactive, but also keeping it within the body

Enterohepatic cycling
- the transfer of drugs and their metabolites from the liver to the bile in the gallbladder, then into the intestine, and then back into circulation

Enzyme
- a complex protein that catalyzes chemical reactions

Enzyme induction
- the increase in hepatic enzyme activity that results in reduced metabolism of drugs

First pass metabolism
- the substantial degradation of an orally administered drug caused by enzyme metabolism in the liver before the drug reaches the systemic circulation

Metabolite
- the substance resulting from the body's transformation of an administered drugs

Glomerular filtration
- the blood filtering process of the nephron

Nephron
- the functional unit of the kidney

Absolute bioavailability
- the bioavailability of a drug product compared to the same drug in a rapidly administered IV solution

Bioavailability
- the amount of an administered dose that reaches the general circulation and the rate at which this occurs

Relative bioavailability
- the bioavailability of a drug product compared to the same drug in any other dosage form than a rapidly administered IV solution

Bioequivalency
- the comparison of bioavailability between two dosage forms

Pharmaceutical alternative
- drug products that contain the same active ingredient, but not necessarily in the same salt form, amount, or dosage form

Pharmaceutical equivalent
- drug products that contain identical amounts of the same active ingredient in the same dosage form

Therapeutic equivalent
- pharmaceutical equivalents that produce the same effects in patients

Thursday, March 12, 2020

PTCB - Chapter 9 - Parenterals: Compounding Sterile Formulations - Key Concepts

Compounding Sterile Formulations
- Parenteral solutions must be sterile, free of all visible particulate material, pyrogen free, stable for their intended time of use, be isotonic, and in most cases (but not all) have a pH around 7.4

LVP Solutions
- Large volume parenteral (LVP) are 100mL or more and come in plastic bags or glass bottles

SVP Solutions
- when a drug is added to a parenteral solution, the drug is referred to as the additive, and the final mixture is referred to as the admixture

Special Solutions
- Parenteral nutrition solutions are complex admixtures composed of dextrose, fat, protein, electrolytes, vitamins, and trace elements used to meet a patient's nutritional needs

Administration Devices
- LVP solutions are usually administered with an administration set. In addition to the basic components (tubing, spikes, clamps, needle adapters), administration sets may have drip chambers, volume control chambers, and Flashballs
- Parenteral administration devices use either gravity or a pump to push the solution into the patient

Laminar Flow Hoods
- A laminar flow hood establishes and maintains an ultraclean work area for preparing parenteral solutions

Biological Safety Cabinets and Clean Rooms
- Chemotherapy agents are to be made in a biological safety cabinet, not a laminar flow hood
- Clean rooms are isolated rooms that house laminar flow hoods and biological safety cabinet; however, clean rooms that meet ISO Class 5 standards do not need a hood or cabinet

Aseptic Techniques for Hoods and Cabinets
- Aseptic techniques maintain the sterility of all sterile items and are used in preparing admixtures

Working with Vials
- There is the potential of coring the rubber stopper of a vial when inserting a needle

Working with Ampules
- Ampules may be pre-scored by the manufacturer or need to be scored with a file

Syringes and Needles
- Syringes come in sizes ranging from 1 to 60 mL
- Needle sizes are indicated by length and gauge. Large needle lumens may be needed for highly viscous solutions but are more likely to cause coring

Filters
- Syringe filters are used to remove particular materials or microorganisms from parenteral solutions

Quality Assurance and Infection Control
- A significant part of preparing parenteral solutions is to have and follow environmental quality and infection control plan
- Drugs and supplies used in making parenteral solutions should be disposed of properly. This may involve using a sharps container, or following procedures prescribed by the EPA and local landfill requirements

Parenteral Incompatibilities
- An incompatibility can exist between the drugs in an admixture or between a drug and the base IV solution

Units of Measurement
- Equivalent (Eq/L) or milliequivalent (mEq/L) concentrations are commonly used to describe concentrations of electrolytes in parenteral solutions
- Percentage concentrations refer to the drug's weight per 100 mL if the drug is a solid, or the drug's volume per 100 mL if the drug is a liquid


PTCB - Chapter 9 - Parenterals: Compounding Sterile Formulation - Definitions

Aseptic techniques
- technique or methods that maintain the sterile condition of products

Hypertonic
- when a solution has a greater osmolarity than that of blood

Hypotonic
- when a solution has a lesser osmolarity than that of blood

Isotonic
- when a solution has an osmolarity equivalent to that of blood

Osmotic Pressure
- a characteristic of a solution determined by the number of dissolved particles in it

Pyrogens
- chemicals produced by microorganisms that can cause pyretic reactions (fever) in patients

Special requirements for Parenteral Dosage Form
1. solutions must be sterile - i.e. free from bacteria and other microorganism
2. solutions must be free of all visible particulate material
3. solutions must be pyrogen free
4. the solution must be stable for its intended use
5. the pH of an IV solution should not vary significantly from physiological pH, about 7.4
6. IV solutions should be formulated to have an osmotic pressure similar to that of blood

Compounded Sterile Preparation (CSP)
- a compounded sterile parenteral dosage form that will be parenterally administered

Additive
- a drug that is added to a parenteral solution

Admixture
- the resulting solution when a drug is added to a parenteral solution

Diluent
- a solvent that dissolves a lyophilized powder or dilutes a solution

Lyophilized
- freeze dried

Ready to mix
- a specially designed minibag by which a drug is put into the SVP just prior to administration

Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) solution
- complex solutions with two base solutions (amino acids and dextrose) and additional micronutrients
- they are hypertonic solutions

Total Nutrient Admixture (TNA) solution
- a TPN solution that contains IV fat emulsion.
- when IV fat emulsion is admixed with a TPN solution, the resulting solution is referred to as a TNA
- hypertonic solutions

Dialysis
- movement of particles in a solution through permeable membranes

Osmosis
- the action in which a drug in a higher concentration solution passes through a permeable membrane to a lower concentration solution

Peritoneal Dialysis Solution
- a solution placed in and emptied from the peritoneal cavity to remove toxic substances

Irrigation solution
- large volume splash solutions used during surgical or urologic procedures to bathe and moisten tissues
- washing out wounds

Flow rate
- the rate (in mL/hour or mL/minute) at which solution is administered to the patient

Flashball
- flexible rubber bulb near the needle adapter on an administration set; used to determine if the needle is properly placed in the vein

Piggybacks
- small volume solutions connected to an LVP

Heparin Lock
- an administration device used when a primary LVP solution is not available
- heparin lock is a short piece of tubing attached to a needle or IV catheter
when the tubing is not being used for the minibag, heparin is used to fill the tubing
- heparin prevents blood from clotting in the tubing

HEPA filter
- a high efficiency particulate air filter

Laminar flow
- continuous movement at a uniform rate in one direction

Horizontal flow head
- a laminar flow hood with horizontal air flow across the work area

Zone of turbulence
- an area of blocked air flow in a laminar flow hood

Vertical flow hood
- a laminar flow hood with vertical air flow across the work area

Coring
- when a needle damages the rubber closure of a parenteral container, causing fragments of the closure to fall into the container and contaminate its contents

Ampules
- sealed glass containers with an elongated neck that must be snapped off

Bevel
- an angled surface at the tip of a needle

Gauge
- a measurement with needles; the higher the gauge, the smaller the lumen

Hub
- the part of the needle that attaches to the syringe

Lumen
- the hollow center of a needle

Shaft
- the stem of the needle that provides the overall length of the needle

Slip-Tip, Luer-Lok, eccentric, oral
- different types of syringe tips

Depth filter
- a filter that can filter solutions being drawn into or expelled from a syringe, but not both ways in the same procedure

Membrane filter
- a filter that filters solution as the solution is expelled from the syringe

Final filter
- a filter placed immediately before a solution enters a patient's vein

Sharps
- needles, jagged glass or metal objects, or any items that might puncture or cut the skin

Anhydrous
- without water molecules

Equivalent weight
- a drug's molecular weight divided by its valence, a common measure of electrolyte concentration

Ions
- molecular particles that carry electric charges

Molecular weight
- the sum of the atomic weights of a molecular

Valence
- the number of positive or negative charges on an ion

Waters of hydration
- water molecules that attach to drug molecules