UNDERSTANDING DRUG-TARGET INTERACTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

UNDERSTANDING DRUG-TARGET INTERACTIONS - Essay Example Propranolol is a beta-adrenergic receptor blocking agent (Long) and has been used to treat amongst many other things, high blood pressure, glaucoma, migraines, reduce anginal episodes, reduce episodes of anxiety and even treat alcohol withdrawal symptoms (Farooqi and Aboul-Enein, 1995). It is one of the most commonly used classes of these drugs (Aarons et al, 1979) but while propranolol is effective in treating several conditions, toxicity may occur in some cases too and is a result of interaction between the receptor and the drug (Glaubinger and Lefkowitz, 1977). Toxicity can affect cardiac, vascular or bronchial function (Farooqi and Aboul-Enein, 1995). The beta-adrenergic receptor is a well studied receptor that is phylogenetically conserved (Barak et al, 1994) and is present in low concentrations in plasma membranes (Yarden et al, 1986). It has been demonstrated to be an integral plasma membrane glycoprotein which is hydrophobic (Yarden et al, 1986). The beta-adrenergic receptor (Refer Fig. 1) is made up of seven transmembrane alpha-helices spanning the plasma membrane. Three of these loops are intracellular while the other three are extracellular. There is an amino terminus and a carboxyl terminus to the receptor of which the carboxyl terminus is on the cytoplasmic side and the amino terminus is inside the cell. This receptor is N-glycosylated near the amino terminus with the amino terminus being blocked in this receptor (Yarden et al, 1986, Green et al,1993). There are many phosphorylation sites on the carboxyl loops (Yarden et al, 1986) which allows for activation. The chemical name of propranolol is 1-isopropylamino-3-(1-naphthyloxy)-2-propanol (Farooqi and Aboul-Enein, 1995) and it is a beta-adrenergic antagonistic drug (Glaubinger and Lefkowitz, 1977). Different structures have been proposed for this drug (Padke et al, 1981). However, a widely accepted one appears to be one put forward by Phadke et al, 1981 (Refer

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 9

Literature review - Essay Example The statement of aims and objectives in the main body is clearly provided and thus guarantees a score of 3. First and foremost is the research method used in collecting data for this study. According to the research paper data was collected from only those nursing students who had earlier participated in similar â€Å"peer learning partnerships†. This appears to be a narrow and restrictive criteria for carrying out this particular study since students who have already participated in such activities are generally conditioned to answer and/or show emotions a particular way as opposed to students who have never been part of such a study. Spontaneous responses, hence, are lessened to some extent. Moreover the paper fails to specify its data concerning the students involved within the study in a quantitative manner. There is no detailed mention of how many students joined in the research study or whether they were initially comfortable with the ground rules laid out for them. The study does not specify the number of dropouts (if any). There is also no detail why the students might have felt the need to be no longer part of the research study. The study does not make any mention of the response rate of the students under observation. It only mentions that in a moderated group environment the students tended to speak at the same time which again led to confusion when taking down responses in an organized manner. The nurses only provide data concerning their feelings and emotions when in a student-mentorship relationship. For most of the students in the group this would be classified as a positive experience since they would have decided it prior to joining the research study group that they were getting enrolled in this study as a positive experience and self study as well as self development. Hence, there are largely positive undercurrents to such a study as opposed to signs