Effect (pharmacology)
An effect (also drug effect , biological activity ) describes in pharmacology the effect of an active ingredient on an organism. The pharmacological effects on an organism and their mechanisms of action are dealt with by pharmacodynamics . The pharmacokinetics investigates the effect in the sense of an action of the organism on an ingested drug as a function of time . Clinical pharmacology is concerned with the desired effects, while the undesirable and toxic effects are the subject of toxicology . Analogous sub-areas of toxicology are toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics.
properties
The types of action of active ingredients can be divided into receptor-mediated and non-receptor-mediated effects, the limit z. B. with antivirals such as acyclovir , mRNA antisense pharmaceuticals, plasmids with the cDNA for a recombinant protein (e.g. in gene therapy ), enzymes or humanized antibodies is ambiguous because the effect is not always based on it, despite a possible receptor binding. The effects can be desired (drug effect) or undesirable (harmful effect, e.g. undesirable drug effects ). The relationship between a dose and an effect produced is shown in a dose-effect curve. The identification of the structural motifs that trigger the effect of a drug leads to a quantitative structure-effect relationship .
Legal definition
A substance shows a pharmacological effect if it leads to interactions with any cellular component present in the body of the user. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has made this clear. The interaction therefore does not have to occur between the molecules of the substance and an endogenous cellular component - an effect on viruses or exogenous cells such as bacteria or parasites is also sufficient . A medicinal substance preparation (drug) can be regarded as a functional medicinal product if, due to its composition - including the dosage of its active ingredients - and " when used as intended , it can significantly restore, correct or influence human physiological functions ."
Differentiation from effectiveness
The clinical or therapeutic effectiveness indicates how great the benefit is for the patient. For example, drugs can shorten the duration of illness or prevent an illness from occurring in the first place.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Aktories, Klaus ; Förstermann, Ulrich; Hofmann, Franz; Starke, Klaus (Ed.): General and special pharmacology and toxicology. (Founded by W. Forth, D.Hentschler and W. Rummel), Urban & Fischer, Munich, Jena, 10th edition 2009, ISBN 978-3-437-42522-6 . Pp. 2, 5, 7f.
- ↑ a b Heinz Lüllmann , Lutz Hein and Klaus Mohr: Pharmakologie und Toxikologie , Thieme Verlag, 2010, 17th edition. ISBN 9783133685177 . P. 15ff.
- ↑ European Court of Justice, judgment of 6 September 2012, case C-308/11
