Have you ever wondered how drugs travel through the body? According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), how we understand medicine today is different from how it was thirty years ago. What are the latest developments and advances when it comes to understanding drugs?
Find out in this fact sheet provided by the NIGMS.
- Researchers have characterized dozens of human drug-metabolizing enzymes and transport proteins that regulate the activity and levels of drugs in the body.
- Scientists also have identified certain medicines, vitamins, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements and other compounds that interact with these enzymes and transporters, possibly causing adverse cross-reactions. To minimize dangerous interactions, doctors and pharmacists maintain lists of such substances. Pharmaceutical scientists are able to detect potentially troublesome compounds early in drug discovery so they can prevent these compounds from moving forward in development.
- By analyzing the genetic sequences of drug-metabolizing enzymes from many people, researchers have identified more than 100 slightly different versions of the enzymes. Although most of these genetic variations are rare, some of them can markedly alter the activity and side effects of drugs.
- As scientists learn more about drug-metabolizing enzymes, particularly those called P450s, they are able to design and develop drugs that influence the activity of the enzymes.
- Scientists are now able to use human, rather than animal, enzymes to predict whether a drug candidate or any of its byproducts will be toxic to humans. However, rare, serious drug reactions remain difficult to predict before testing experimental medicines in humans.
- The formulation, packaging and delivery of drugs are tailored to ensure optimal effectiveness, safety and convenience. Therapeutics ranging from cold remedies to anti-AIDS treatments are dispensed in time-release capsules that provide a constant level of a drug over several hours. Acid-sensitive drugs like some antibiotics and antihistamines are packaged so they can pass unscathed through the stomach into the small intestine, where they are absorbed. Other delivery systems include pumps (insulin), inhalers (asthma medications), implants (anticancer and pain medications), patches (estrogen replacement and smoking cessation treatments) and the covering of stents (the blood thinner heparin).
- Patient instructions routinely indicate whether a drug should be taken at a particular time of day and whether oral medications should be consumed with a meal or on an empty stomach.
Source: NIGMS.gov