Mechanisms of Action of Physiologically Active Compounds   (454B2)

Academic year:

2025/2026.

Attendance requirements:

There are no requirements.

ECTS:

4

Study level:

Study program:

Teacher:

Milan R. Nikolić, Ph.D.
associate professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, Beograd

Assistant:

Simeon L. Minić, Ph.D.
assistant professor, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, Beograd

Hours of instruction:

Weekly: two hours of lectures + two hours of labwork (2+0+2)

Goals:

The course is based on prior knowledge of signaling pathways and metabolism regulation to understand their mutual connection and modulation capabilities of their functions by using drugs. The primary routes of administration, transport, distribution, and action of drugs (pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics) will be elaborated on the example of psychopharmacology, therapy of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes, as well as chemotherapeutics. The final part of the course will briefly cover nanotechnologies and their applications in medicine.

Outcome:

Upon successful completion of the course, a student will be able to: independently and comprehensively considers the effects of biologically active substances (drugs), mechanisms of drug action, and strategy of drug transport in the target tissues.

Teaching methods:

Lectures, experimental exercises, and seminar paper.

Extracurricular activities:

—

Coursebooks:

Main coursebooks:

1. Katzung & Trevor's Pharmacology Examination and Board Review, 11th Edition (2015). McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN-13: 978-0071826358.
2. Drug Metabolism: Current Concepts, 2005th Edition (2006). Springer. ISBN-13: 978-1402050282.
3. Clinical Pharmacology Made Ridiculously Simple, 5th Edition, by James Olson (2019). MedMaster. ISBN-10: 1935660373.
4. Power Point Presentations from lectures.

Supplementary coursebooks:

• Selected review papers.

Additional material:

http://www.chem.bg.ac.rs/~mnikolic

Lectures:

10 points (2 hours a week)

Syllabus:

Thematic units:

– Modulation of signal transduction pathways in the regulation of impaired homeostasis: general principles of action of physiologically active substances (pharmaceutical drugs and natural products)

– Routes of drug entry into the body and protein systems for drug biotransport

– Drug metabolism and factors on which drug action depends

– Drugs for the cardiovascular system (antihypertensives; beta-blockers; antiarrhythmics; vasodilators; blood thinners): structures, properties, mechanisms of action

– Fundamentals of psychopharmacology: structures, properties and mechanisms of action of antipsychotics, antidepressants and psychostabilizers

– Drugs for lowering blood lipid content (antilipemics): structures, properties, and mechanisms of action of statins, fibrates and niacin, bile acid sequestrants, cholesterol absorption inhibitors

– Drugs for lowering blood glucose content; structures, properties, and mechanisms of action of oral antidiabetics (insulin secretagogues, insulin sensitizers, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors) and protein therapeutics (insulin, GLP-1 receptor agonists)

– Malignant cell: structure and principles of action of chemotherapeutics (alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antibiotics, antimitotic drugs, hormonal agents)

– Natural products as drugs (as phytotherapeutics): selected structures and mechanisms of action

– Molecular nanomedicine and nanorobots

Labwork:

20 points (2 hours a week)

Syllabus:

Pleiotropic effects of physiologically active substances: determining the antioxidant potential of selected classes of drugs and herb extracts; influence of drugs on the structure and activity of selected blood proteins.

Semester papers:

30 points

Oral exam:

40 points