Pharmacology

1 Case Study 1

General Instructions:
1. The entire case study should be handwritten on a legal pad. Please follow
color-coding scheme for each block.
a. PM 301 Pink
b. PM302 Green
c. PM303 Blue
2. The case study will be done individually. However, individual works will be
collated/merged as group work as soon as the groupings will be available.
3. All references used in the case study should be stated as a bibliographic entry
on the last part of the submitted paper. Please follow APA format. Books and
journals are preferred references. However, if the need arise for the use of
internet sources, the use of Wikipedia, personal blogs, and Q&A site such as
Yahoo Answer is prohibited.
4. The submission date for individual work is on November 25 (PM301) and
November 26 (PM302 and PM303). Late papers will be accepted for
compliance, i.e. no grade will be recorder.

Case Analysis:

Case 1 Peculiar Tablet

Aspirin is considered as an acidic drug given at a dose of 80 mg tablet as an
antithrombotic agent for patients with angina and prevention of myocardial and
cerebral infarction. In todays market, some preparations of aspirin would be given
as 100 mg enteric coated tablet.
1. Rationalize the need to enteric coat the aspirin tablet.
2. Why is the enteric coated tablet given in 100 mg dose as compared to the
compressed tab of 80 mg only?
3. In the principle of like dissolves like, aspirin should be dissolved non-ionized
in the acidic medium of the stomach to take effect. Explain why the 100 mg
enteric coated tablets dissolved in the alkaline pH of the stomach still exerts
an effect. HINT: It involves three (3) factors in pharmacokinetics.

Case 2 Because I love pomelos.

A 40-year old woman was rushed to the hospital due to a heart attack. She
was revived and was able to live. Upon interview by the pharmacist, the patient is
well aware and faithfully takes her medications as prescribed. She also discussed
that she always eat grapefruits, pomelos, and oranges from her backyard.
1. If the patient is taking her medications as prescribed, why did she suffer from
a heart attack? Rationalize the connection of her diet to the event.
2. In connection with number 1, what are other foods and medications that
could have either caused another heart attack or hypotension? Explain the
rationale behind their effect on the intended action of the medications of the
patient.

3. If the patient will take an enzyme inhibitor and an enzyme inducer at the
same time, what is the effect to her blood pressure? Increased or decreased?
Rationalize your answers.

Case 3 I am suffering from drug addiction

A 25-year old celebrity was diagnosed to have a stage 2 cancer of the bone He
was given 100mg morphine prn orally or 10 mg morphine prn IV when admitted to
the hospital during chemotherapy sessions. After a year of battling with his
condition, he recovered from the cancer and was declared cancer free. However, he
is still suffering from physiological dependence from the morphine that he always
takes.
1. Why would morphine cause drug addiction to the patient? Rationalize using
the effects of morphine on different receptors for opioids.
2. What would be the effect if the patient will take:
a. Butorphanol
b. Naloxone?
Rationalize using the effects of these drugs to the opioid receptors.
3. If a patient will take a receptor agonist and antagonist at the same time, what
are the factors that will affect the manifestation of the effect of both drugs?
Explain each factor.