Practical Pharmacology for the Pharmaceutical Sciences

Practical Pharmacology for the Pharmaceutical Sciences is a lab survival guide for those studying Pharmacology, providing hands-on advice on developing pharmacology laboratory and data handling skills. Suitable for both undergraduates and postgraduates, it focuses on laboratory techniques rather than computer-simulated data. It also guides the reader through the process of communicating experimental results in a variety of formats, including posters, oral presentations and project reports. Split into three main areas, the following topics are covered in detail: Preparation for Experimental Pharmacology Legal aspects Fundamentals of Pharmacology Definitions, calculations and statistics Experiments in Pharmacology Microtitre-based techniques using isolated cells In vitro techniques using isolated tissues and organs Biochemical techniques using cell-free systems Communicating experimental results Data presentation How to write scientific reports Pharmacological literature Supported with numerous questions throughout the text, as well as step by step instructions for practical experiments, this book presents an approach to learning pharmacology through an appreciation of authentic experimental data.

Practical Pharmacology for the Pharmaceutical Sciences; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1 Before Entering the Pharmacology Laboratory; 1.1 Safety and Risk Assessment; 1.2 The Laboratory Record Book; 1.3 Use of Animals in Practical Pharmacology; 1.4 Experimental Design; 1.5 Units, Dilutions and Logarithms; 1.5.1 Units of Mass; 1.5.2 Units, Concentrations and Logarithms; 1.5.3 Dilutions; 1.5.4 Logarithms; 1.6 Essential Statistics; 1.6.1 Continuous Data -- t-test, ANOVA, Non-parametric Tests and Regression; 1.6.2 Discontinuous Data -- 2 and Fishers Exact Test; References.

2 Basic Pharmacological Principles2.1 Drug-receptor interaction; 2.1.1 Agonists; 2.1.2 Antagonists; 2.1.3 Receptor Classification; 2.2 Bioassays; 2.2.1 Single-point Assays; 2.2.2 Bracketing Assays, Three-point or 2×1 Assays; 2.2.3 Multi-point Assays, Such As Four-point or 2×2 Assays; References; 3 Isolated Tissues and Organs; 3.1 Equipment for IN VITRO Experiments; 3.2 Organ Baths; 3.3 Physiological Salt Solutions; 3.4 Transducers; 3.5 Recording Equipment and Software; 3.6 Dosing; 3.7 Electrically Stimulated Preparations; 3.8 Fault-Finding of IN VITRO Isolated Tissue Preparations; References.

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