Pharmacology is the scientific study of the effects of drugs and chemicals on living organisms, where a drug can be broadly defined as any chemical substance, natural or synthetic, that affects a biological system. Pharmacology can encompass the way organisms handle drugs, the identification and validation of new targets for drug action, and the design and development of new drugs to prevent, treat, and cure diseases.
Pharmacological research is also a fundamental component in the development of modern “personalized medicine.”
There are many subspecialties within the general discipline of pharmacology. Pharmacodynamics is the study of the effects of drugs on biological systems and specifically addresses the chemical properties and physiological and behavioral effects of drugs arising from their interaction with molecular targets such as receptor proteins or enzyme systems. In contrast, pharmacokinetics is the study of what biological systems do to the drug and encompasses investigations of drug absorption, distribution, biotransformation, and excretion—information essential for the design of drug treatment regimens in different patient populations and experimental animals, and for the prediction of drug-drug interactions that may enhance or compromise drug efficacy and safety.
If you wish to share published and unpublished research, theses, articles, scientific and academic publications on the Coca Leaf, send an email to repositoriohojacoca@vicepresidencia.gob.bo.
