VPS3042 - Disease states and pharmacological intervention

Leader(s): Dr Sab Ventura

Offered

Parkville Second semester 2009 (Day)

Synopsis

To provide students with an understanding of the importance of knowledge of the disease state in selection of drug targets and implications for drug design and treatment.

Objectives

This unit will provide an extensive overview of the pathophysiology of six clinically relevant disease states. It will include description of the physiological mechanisms which have been affected by the disease and how these systems can be manipulated with currently known pharmacological tools. This will be followed by a description of the logical approach to designing experiments using different biological research methods to identify targets which may be useful therapeutically. The diseases to be covered in this course are:

1. Hypertension and its treatment by various receptor antagonists, enzyme inhibitors and ion channel inhibitors;
2. Benign prostatic hyperplasia and its treatment by receptor antagonists and enzyme inhibitors;
3. Schizophrenia and its treatment by various receptor antagonists;
4. Parkinson's disease and its treatment by neurotransmitter precursors, enzyme inhibitors, receptor antagonists and various indirectly acting and directly acting agonists;
5. Alzheimer's disease and its treatment by enzyme inhibitors and various receptor agonists;
6. Depression and its treatment by transport inhibitors, receptor antagonists and indirectly acting agonists.

Assessment

ongoing assessment and practical workshops: 30%; final exam: 70%

Prerequisites

VPS2062 Pharmacology
VPS2092 Molecular cell biology

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/