Pharmacology is the branch

of medicine and biology concerned with the study

of drug action,[1] where a drug can be broadly defined as
any man-made, natural, or endogenous (from within body)
molecule which exerts a biochemical and/or physiological
effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism (sometimes
the word pharmacon is used as a term to encompass
these endogenous and exogenousbioactive species).
More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that
occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect
normal or abnormal biochemical function. If substances
have medicinal properties, they are
considered pharmaceuticals.
The field encompasses drug composition and properties,
synthesis and drug design, molecular and
cellular mechanisms, organ/systems mechanisms, signal
transduction/cellular communication, molecular
diagnostics, interactions, toxicology, chemical biology,
therapy, and medical applications and antipathogenic
capabilities. The two main areas of pharmacology
are pharmacodynamics andpharmacokinetics. The former
studies the effects of the drug on biological systems, and
the latter the effects of biological systems on the drug. In
broad terms, pharmacodynamics discusses the chemicals
with biological receptors, and pharmacokinetics discusses
the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion

(ADME) of chemicals from the biological systems.

Pharmacology is not synonymous with pharmacy and the
two terms are frequently confused. Pharmacology, a
biomedical science, deals with the research, discovery,
and characterization of chemicals which show biological
effects and the elucidation of cellular and organismal
function in relation to these chemicals. In contrast,
pharmacy, a health services profession, is concerned with
application of the principles learned from pharmacology in
its clinical settings; whether it be in a dispensing or clinical
care role. In either field, the primary contrast between the
two are their distinctions between direct-patient care, for
pharmacy practice, and the science-oriented research
field, driven by pharmacology.

Pharmacology is one of the cornerstones of the drug

discovery process. The medicinal chemist may create the
candidate compound, but the pharmacologist is the one
who tests it for physiologic activity. A promising compound
is investigated by many other scientiststoxicologists,
microbiologists, cliniciansbut only after the
pharmacologist has documented a potential therapeutic
effect. This article briefly presents the historical
development of pharmacology and some of the basic
methods used.

Etymologically, pharmacology is the science of drugs

(Greek pharmakos, medicine or drug; and logos, study). In
actual use, however, its meaning is limited to the study of
the actions of drugs. Pharmacology has been defined as
an experimental science which has for its purpose the
study of changes brought about in living organisms by
chemically acting substances (with the exception of
foods), whether used for therapeutic purposes or not.
Pharmacology studies the effects of drugs and how they
exert their effects. There is a distinction between what a
drug does and how it acts. Thus, amoxicillin cures a strep
throat, and cimetidine promotes the healing of duodenal
ulcers. Pharmacology asks How? Amoxicillin inhibits the
synthesis of cell wall mucopeptide by the bacteria that
cause the infection, and cimetidine inhibits gastric acid
secretion by its antagonist action on histamine H2
receptors.
The main tasks of pharmacologists in the search for and
development of new medicines are

screening for desired activity,

determining mode of action, and

quantifying drug activity when chemical methods are

not available.