General pharmacology (III year - I semester) – Special pharmacology (III year, I semester) - Nutraceutics (III year, II semester) – Statistics (III year, II semester)
GOODMAN L.S. & GILMAN A.: Le basi farmacologiche della terapia XII ed. Italiana, Zanichelli, 2012
RANG & DALE. Framacologia, Masson, VIII edizione, 2016
MANARA & MANNAIONI: Farmacologia e Doping - Masson
MOTTRAM: Farmaci e Sport - Casa Editrice Ambrosiana
MCARDLE ET AL. – Alimentazione nello Sport – Casa Editrice Ambrosiana
PAGANO & GAUVREAU, Biostatistica, IDELSON-GNOCCHI
FOWLER, JARVIS & CHEVANNES, Statistica per le professioni sanitarie, EdiSES.
Learning Objectives
Knowledge and understanding: The student should know and understand the origin and classification criteria of drugs, integrators, supplements, nutrients and nutraceutics, the fundamental principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, as well as the interindivdual response variability according to genetic factors, age and sex and the criteria for evaluation of the risk to benefit ratio.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: The student should know the mechanism of action, indications, contraindications, toxicity and pharmacological interactions of the principal classes of drugs used in sports and in motor activity pathologies in different stages of life, as well as the toxicology of drugs of abuse and drugs used to improve physical performance, the pathologies that ensue and the possible detoxification treatments. Moroever, the student should learn the concepts of descriptive and inferential statistics, know how to perform data analyses using the acquired theoretical notions and know how to critically read a scientific article.
See information on the web site: http://didonline.med.unifi.it/go.php/8/index.php/p_course/8
Prerequisites
Knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry
Teaching Methods
The Pharmacology course takes place in the first semester of the III year by means of two frontal oral classes of 2 h per week, The Nutraceutics and Statistics courses take place by means of frontal oral classes in the second semester of the III year (one class of 2 h per week each).
Oral Profit Exam (Pharmacology and Nutraceutics) and written multiple question test (Statistics). The assessment takes into account the costant commitment of the student in all the phases of the formative process. In particular, the following are verified: the knowledge and learning of the basic notions delivered during the frontal lessons and through the teaching material and the devolpemnt of critical sense on the topics of the subject. The oral exam or the written test are carried out in fornt of the teacher in public form exclusively on the dates indicated in the exam calendar. The final grade of the teaching takes into account the results achieved in the individual teaching units
Course program
GENERAL PHARMACOLOGY
Drug absorption: Factors that regulate the passage of drugs through biological membranes. Routes of administration of drugs.
Drug distrubution: Factors that regulate the distribution of drugs.
Drug metabolism of drugs: Phase I and phase II reactions. Induction and inhibition of drug metabolism. Factors that regulate biotransformation.
Drug excretion: Renal and biliary excretion. Other routes of excretion.
Pharmacokinetics: Bioavailability and first-passage effect. Volume of distribution, clerance, half-life.
Pharmacodynamics: Receptors: definition and characteristics. Quantitative aspects od drug-receptor interaction: affinity, potency and efficacy. Agonists and antagonists. Receptor specificity and signal transduction: adenylate cyclase, phospholipase C and Ca2+.
SPECIAL PHARMACOLOGY
Drugs that act on the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems: Mechanism of action, indications, contraindications, toxicity and pharmacological interactions of cholinergic and adrenergic agonists (direct and indirect sympathomimetic amines) and antagonists (antimuscarinic and antinicotinic drugs, alfa and beta-blockers).
Psicomotor SNC stimulants: Mechanism of action, collateral effects and abuse liability of amphetamines, cocaine and caffeine.
Sedative and anxyolitic drugs: Mechanism of action, collateral effects and abuse liability of alcohol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, cannabinoids and nicotine.
Analgesics and narcotics: Mechanism of action, indications, collateral effects, abuse liability and toxicity of morphine and derivatives.
Antiinflammatory drugs: Mechanism of action, indications, contraindications, toxicity and pharmacological interactions of non steroidal and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Anabolic agents and peptidic hormones: Mechanism of action, use in sport activities and collateral effects of testosterone and structural analogues. GH, ACTH and other hormones: therapeutic use and in sport activities. Autotransfusion and erythropoietin.
Doping: Definition, legal aspects, antidoping analysis methodologies.
NUTRACEUTICS
The course deals with the presentation of alimentary classes and nutritional cathegories, followed by the evaluation of of nutritional complexities and antinutritional and endrocrinological effects in meal composition. Sinergies and antagonisms in enzymatic digestion and absorption preferences. Body compartimentalization based on three nutritional basal functions: absorption, distribution and nutrient utilization and accumulation.
Human body morphometry and evaluation of consumption. Nutritional adequacy and energetic balance diets.
Aspecific/specific intolerance and allergic susceptibility linked to physical activity.
Nutritional design related to training and competitive activity.
Integration, supplementation, anorexic drugs. Eating behavior disorders.
STATISTICS
Data collection and synthesis, measures for numeric synthesis, probability, theoretical distribution of probability, sample distribution, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests: mean, proportion, mean comparisons for independent and paired data, non parametric tests, correlation and regression. Surveys and sampling techniques.