Cardiac arrhythmias
Fig. 8.1 Action potentials show variations in patterns among different populations of myocytes in different regions of the heart. The patterns are determined by the opening and closing of selective…
Lipid disorders
Fig. 48.1 Major pathways in lipoprotein formation and metabolism.Dietary lipids including cholesterol (CHOL) and free fatty acids (FFA) in the gut are emulsified by bile acids and transported within chylomicrons…
Androgens, anti-androgens and anabolic steroids
sexual differentiation in the fetus, sexual development of the male testis, penis, epididymis, seminal vesicles and prostate at puberty, and maintenance of these tissues in adults, spermatogenesis in adults, stimulation…
The immune response and immunosuppressant drugs
physicochemical barriers, e.g. intact skin and mucous membrane, low stomach pH, antibacterial agents (lysozyme) in skin and tear secretions, macrophages and dendritic cells, particularly in lungs, liver, lymph nodes and…
The major psychotic disorders: schizophrenia and mania
Biological basis of schizophrenia There is a strong genetic component to schizophrenia with several risk genes that affect early brain development and predispose an individual to developing the condition. Triggers…
Heart failure
preload: this is governed by the ventricular end-diastolic volume, which in turn is related to ventricular filling pressure and therefore to venous return of blood to the heart, heart rate,…
Drug toxicity and overdose
drug toxicity and adverse effects, which discusses mechanisms for adverse effects produced both during normal drug therapy and after an overdose, self-poisoning and drug overdose, which is concerned with the…
Calcium metabolism and metabolic bone disease
Fig. 42.1 Regulation of calcium metabolism.A fall in plasma Ca2+ leads to increased release of parathyroid hormone (PTH) from the parathyroid gland, which increases calcitriol [1,25-(OH2)-D3] formation in the kidney….
Corticosteroids (glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids)
Fig. 44.1 The core structure of steroid hormones is derived from the cholesterol molecule shown.The four rings are each identified by a letter A–D, and each carbon atom by a…
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
Fig. 29.1 The arachidonic acid cascade of eicosanoid synthesis.Arachidonic acid liberated from membrane phospholipids can be utilised by cyclo-oxygenases (COX-1, COX-2, COX-3) to form prostanoids (prostaglandins, prostacyclin and thromboxane) or…
