Assignment: Autonomic Drugs Actions

Assignment: Autonomic Drugs Actions

1. The functions of the autonomic nervous system are based on receptor activity. Autonomic drugs act via all of the following commonly observed receptors sites EXCEPT:

a. Cholinergic

b. Dopaminergic

c. Adrenergic

d. Histaminergic and dopaminergic

2. The treatment of acne can consist of the use of topical agents (clindamycin, erythromycin, or azelaic acid). All of which have potential adverse effects. All of the following are commonly observed reactions with the application of these anti-acne medication EXCEPT:

a. skin dryness

b. skin peeling

c. burning sensation

d. changes in skin tone

3. Antipsychotic medications are divided in atypical and atypical antipsychotics. Which of the following is the proposed mechanism of action for all antipsychotic medications?

a. Disruption of neurochemical pathways

b. Primary inhibition of muscarinic and histaminergic receptors

c. Blockage of dopaminergic receptors and action as competitive antagonist of dopamine centrally and peripherally

d. Inhibitor of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake

4. Match the  following organs or tissues to the effects they may have on sympathetic or parasympathetic system response:

1.Skin                                                                     a. causes constriction (Parasympathetic)

2.Genitourinary smooth muscle            b. no effect (parasympathetic)

(bladder wall)                                                     c. Decreases pressure (sympathetic)

3.Heart                                                                 d. causes vasoconstriction (sympathetic)

4. Eyes                                                                    e. decreases heart rate

5. Blood vessels

The activation of the parasympathetic nervous system can bring some major physiological effects, such as a rise in glandular secretion, an increase in contraction of smooth muscle, and a reduction in both heart contractility and heart rate. To achieve the above physiological effects, two types of receptors are involved in neurotransmission, namely nicotinic receptors and muscarinic receptors.

These two groups of receptors can bind to the same neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, to relay the neurotransmission in the synapse.[1] At the synapse, acetylcholine is released from the presynaptic neuron. Acetylcholine can either bind to the receptors on the postsynaptic neuron to continue transmission of nerve signals or bind to receptors on tissues of the organ to cause a physiological response.[1] After binding to the receptors, acetylcholine will be degraded to choline and acetate by acetylcholinesterase and this will terminate the action of acetylcholine.

By acting on the receptors and acetylcholinesterase involved in transmission of nerve signals, autonomic drugs can be adopted to stimulate or inhibit the parasympathetic nervous system to achieve therapeutic effects.

Promoting stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system can be attained by using muscarinic agonists or anticholinesterase drugs. Muscarinic agonists can bind to muscarinic receptors and hence promote the transmission of nerve impulses to organs,[1] facilitating the physiological effects brought by parasympathetic nervous system. Anticholinesterase drugs interact with acetylcholinesterase so as to prevent acetylcholine from binding to acetylcholinesterase. This hinders the decomposition of acetylcholine, maintaining neurotransmission and also the resulting physiological effects.

Inhibition of the parasympathetic nervous system can be achieved by utilizing muscarinic antagonists or inhibitors of acetylcholine release. Muscarinic antagonists can bind to muscarinic receptors and block the receptors.[1] Acetylcholine cannot interact with muscarinic receptors so transmission of nerve impulses cannot be passed from neurons to organs to bring about the original physiological response. For inhibitors of acetylcholine release, they can impede the release of acetylcholine from the presynaptic nerve fibre. In this way, there is a decline in neurotransmission and the corresponding physiological effect will be diminished.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource