Guidelines and Screening Methods of Pharmacology

Pharmacological screening of drugs is the sequential testing of new chemical entities or extracts from biological material in isolated organs followed by test in whole animals. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to describe the pharmacological screening methods in order to maximize the benefits and optimize the risks of drugs to recipients. The student in pharmacology, the pharmacist and the medicinal chemist will find a survey of pharmacological assays that can be used for a given indication and for which methods have demonstrated their relevance. However, this book will also be useful for other health professionals whose career involves testing of biological activity of drugs. The goal is to empower the students through an understanding the basic models for screening the biological activity of drug. Certain therapeutic domains, such as cardiovascular, respiratory and renal disorders, psychiatry and neurology, peripheral nerve function, pain and rheumatic diseases, metabolic and endocrine diseases including diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, are discussed in this book. Each chapter is divided into pharmacological classes, e.g., anxiolytics, antiepileptics, neuroleptics, antidepressants, or anti-Parkinson drugs in central nervous system; bronchodilators, expectorants, antiasthmatic and antispasmodics in respiratory system. For each class, in vitro methods, tests on isolated organs and in vivo methods are described. For each method the purpose and rationale are given first, followed by a description of the procedure, evaluation of the data, modifications of the method described in the literature, and the relevant references. Wherever possible, a critical assessment of the method based on personal experience is added. The guidelines concerning the care and use of laboratory animals have been updated. Readers are encouraged to refer the references mentioned for further information and we hope that this book will be a valuable companion in our pursuit of a fundamental understanding of experimental models in a most fascinating area of screening pharmacology