Abstract
Pharmacology is the study of exogenous chemicals including their actions on and movement throughout the body. As a science, it encompasses both pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Pharmacokinetics relates to the movement of chemical entities throughout the body. By understanding a medications pharmacokinetics, one understands what the body does to the drug. On the other hand pharmacodynamics is the science of what the drug does to the body or an infecting microorganism. Pharmacodynamics relates to the action of a drug in the body over a period of time. This chapter will also cover pharmaceutics, the science of pharmaceutical systems that focuses on drug preparations and dosage forms.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggested Readings
Carr L, Tucker A, Fernandez-Botran R. In vivo administration of L-dopa or dopamine decreases at the number of splenic IFNγ-producing cells. J Neuroimmunol. 2003;137:87–93.
Debaveye YA, Van den Berghe GH. Is there’s still a place for dopamine in the modern intensive care unit? Anesth Analg. 2004;98:461–8.
Deree J, Martins JO, Melbostad H, et al. Insights into the regulation of TNFα production in human mononuclear cells: the effects of non-specific phosphodiesterase inhibition. Clinics. 2008;63:321–8.
Devins SS, Miller A, Herndon BL, et al. Effects of dopamine on T-lymphocyte proliferative responses and serum prolactin concentrations in a critically ill patients. Crit Care Med. 1992;12:1644–9.
Guerin JP, Levraut J, Samat-Long C, et al. Effects of dopamine and norepinephrine on systemic and hepatosplanchnic hemodynamics, oxygen exchange, and energy balance in vasoplegic septic patients. Shock. 2005;1:18–24.
Hansen P, Horn J. The top 100 drug interactions: a guide to patient management. Freeland: H&H Publications; 2008.
Haque K, Mohan P. Pentoxifylline for neonatal sepsis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;4:CD004205.
Kohka H, Nishibori M, Iwagaki H, et al. Histamine is a potent inducer of IL-18 and IFN-γ in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. J Immunol. 2000;164:6640–6.
Landry Y, Gies JP. Drugs and their molecular targets: an updated overview. Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2008;22:1–18.
Leucuta SE, Vlase L. Pharmacokinetics and metabolic drug interactions. Curr Clin Pharmacol. 2006;1:5–20.
Levitt DG. PKQuest_Java: free, interactive physiologically based pharmacokinetic software package and tutorial. BMC Res Notes. 2009;2:158.
Muir KW. Glutamate-based therapeutic approaches: clinical trials with NMDA antagonists. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2006;6:1–8.
Nielsen HJ, Mynster T, Jensen S, et al. Effect of ranitidine on soluble interleukin-2 receptors and CD 8 molecule is in surgical patients. Br J Surg. 1994;81:1747–51.
Taketomo CK, Hodding JH, Kraus DM, Taketomo CK, Hodding JH, Kraus DM, editors. Lexicomp’s pediatric dosage handbook. 15th ed. Hudson: Lexicomp, Inc; 2008.
Tetelbaum M, Finklestein Y, Nava-Ocampo A, et al. Understanding drugs in children: pharmacokinetic maturation. Pediatr Rev. 2005;26:9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brummel, G.L., Lucking, S.E. (2012). Pharmacology. In: Lucking, S., Maffei, F., Tamburro, R., Thomas, N. (eds) Pediatric Critical Care Study Guide. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-923-9_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-923-9_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-85729-922-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-85729-923-9
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)