Module Content (3C)

  • Drug design and development
  • Therapy of infectious diseases
  • Drugs acting on the central nervous system
  • Drugs affecting renal, blood and cardiovascular function
  • Drugs used in controlling allergies and inflammation
  • Hormones and hormone antagonists
  • Drugs used in the chemotherapy of neoplastic diseases
  • Drugs acting on the gastrointestinal system and drugs acting on bone

Medicinal chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacology involved in designing, synthesizing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. This course is designed to give an idea about the existing drugs, their mechanism of action, structure-activity relationship, chemistry and some of the synthetic pathways.

MOC 5003 : Medicinal Chemistry (45L) - 3 credits  

Drug design and development (05 L)

History, Pharmacokinetics: The dynamics of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination, Pharmacodynamics, Membrane transporters and drug response, Discovery and development of drugs, Strategies in drug design, Molecular modeling.

Therapy of infectious diseases (06 L)

General principles, Antibacterial drugs (sulfonamides, beta-lactam antibiotics, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, macrolides etc), Drugs used in the chemotherapy of protozoal infections and antiprotozoal drugs, Drugs used in the treatment of cestoda, trematoda and nematoda (helminthiasis), Antifungal compounds.

Drugs acting on the central nervous system (08 L)

Neurotransmission and the central nervous system, Volatile anesthetics, Local anesthetics, Central nervous system depressants: Sedative hypnotics, anticonvulsants, neurtolepics, anxiolytics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, Stimulants and hallucinogens, Drugs used to treat neuromuscular disorders: Antiparkinsonism agent and skeletal muscle relaxants, Opioid receptors and analgesics.

Drugs affecting renal, blood and cardiovascular function (08 L)

Cardiac agents: Cardiac inotropes (cardiac glycosides), antianginals and antiarrhythmic drugs, anticoagulants (thrombolytic and antiplatelet), coagulants and plasma extenders, anti-hypertensive agents, Diuretics, Hyperlipidemia and the mechanism of lipid transport, Antilipidemic drugs: Statins.

Drugs used in controlling allergies and inflammation (06 L)

Histamines, Antiallergenic agents such as antihistamine and leukotreine receptor modulators, Chemical mediators in hypersensitivity reactions, Drugs acting on the respiratory system: Bronchodilators and mast-cell stabilizing agents, Adrenocorticoids, Structure-activity relationship of steroidal anti-inflammatory compounds, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, Drugs used in SLE and inflammatory bowel disease.

Hormones and hormone antagonists (05 L)

Pituitary hormones and their hypothalamic releasing hormones, Thyroid function, Thyroid and antithyroid drugs, Estrogens and progesterone and their therapeutic use, Drugs affecting sugar metabolism: Insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents.

Drugs used in the chemotherapy of neoplastic diseases (05 L)

Antiviral agents and their development in chemotherapy of AIDS, Drugs for neoplastic diseases: Alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antimitotic drugs and topoisomerase inhibitors.

Drugs acting on the gastrointestinal system and drugs acting on bone (02 L)

Pharmacotherapy of gastric acidity: Antacids, H2 receptor blockers, proton pump inhibitors, Prokinetic agents, Anti-spasmodics, Treatment of disorders of bowel motility and water flux: Anti-motility agents, anti-emetics and anti-resorption agents.