Download Unit 2 Problem Set KEY unit2_problemset_key_2

Biology 100
Problem Set for Unit 2
1. Which drug would be hardest to cheat a drug test for?
a)
b)
c)
d)
One that is fat soluble
One that is smoked
One that is eliminated by respiration
One that has a high therapeutic index
2. This is a molecule you met in Unit 2:
How many carbons are on this molecule? 8 If you see a methyl group,
circle it. If you see a hydroxyl group, draw a square box around it.
3. One could use cannabis (marijuana) in many ways. Contrast each of the following:
a) Eating vs. smoking the plant material eating will result in it taking longer and
more drawn out as it reaches the brain
b) A pill with one alkaloid vs. a pill with all extracted alkaloids all alkaloids means
you will have more effects, stronger effects, and possibly a positive or negative
effects of the alkaloids in combination (such as synergism).
4. With regard to CYP3A4:
a) What is the relationship between CYP450 and CYP3A4? CYP450 is the family,
CYP3A4 is a member of the family.
b) If someone has weak CYP3A4 activity, what might she experience? Prescribed
meds might give more side effects or particularly strong effects.
c) If you used a drug that ELEVATED CYP3A4 function, how might this influence
your prescribed medications? This would result in shortening my prescribed
mediations’ half lives.
5. Iggy notices that the amount of caffeine he needs to feel alert TODAY is different from what
he needed last week. Come up with at least two different ideas why.
It is possible he took caffeine in a different form or with (or without) a meal. It is also possible
that he has been drinking enough to have built up a tolerance. Another option is that he is sick
this time (or last time) or is taking drugs this time (or was last time).
6. Yusef can drink a LOT of alcohol without getting drunk, but his friend Yasmine is a
lightweight (a little alcohol leads to intoxication) What might be different about Yusef as
compared to Yasmine that accounts for this difference (Come up with FIVE ideas minimally)?
Yusef might be larger. He might have less body fat. He might have been drinking longer
(tolerance). He might be particularly good at metabolizing ethanol due to good ALD function or
due to good ALDH function. He might eat more, slowing the absorption of ethanol in the gut.
7. Use the table shown to solve for therapeutic index (TI) of the drugs given. In both cases,
assume the person using the drug weighs 60 kg. Show your work to the side of the table.
Biology 100
Problem Set for Unit 2
Drug
Effective dose (50)
Lethal dose (50)
TI
Drug G
1 mg/kg/day
10 mg/kg/day
10 (10
divided by 1)
Easier drug to
overdose on
(check one box)
This one
Drug H
40 milligrams
20 grams
500 (20,000
divided by 40)
8. Your company wants to test a new drug it is developing for the Alzheimer’s patient
market group. Describe how you would set up an experiment to test if this drug is
EFFECTIVE.
Must first test molecule to determine purity and properties. Then must test in animals to
see how safe it is. Then in small amounts in very few healthy people – again, for safety.
Then in patients to see if it works to improve Alzheimer’s symptoms. Here, one must test
the drug in double blind, placebo controlled studies.
9. For each graph, there are two drugs, drug 1 and drug 2, that can be given alone or in
combination (B = both).
B
1
B
B
1
2
1
1
2
2
B
1
B
2
2
a) Using the information given, what type of interaction is being shown in each
graph? First is additive. Second is antagonistic. Third is incompatible. Fourth is
synergistic. Fifth is antagonistic.
b) Which graph(s) might represent the situation where one drug makes you more
alert and the other makes you more groggy (opposite effects)? The fifth one –
furthest to the right.
c) Which graph(s) might represent the situation where one drug enhances the
metabolic activity of an enzyme that breaks down the other drug? Second
probably, but third is an option.
10. If evergreen tree leaves have more catalase activity (to break down hydrogen
peroxide) than deciduous trees, which graph makes more sense and why? The one on the
left – more activity means less time to rise.
evergreen
deciduous
Time for disc to rise
deciduous
evergreen
Time for disc to rise
Biology 100
Problem Set for Unit 2