Unit GENERAL PHARMACOLOGY AND TOXICOLOGY

Course
Veterinary medicine
Study-unit Code
GP005369
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Giorgia Della Rocca
CFU
10
Course Regulation
Coorte 2020
Offered
2022/23
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa integrata

PHARMACOLOGICAL BASES OF ANALGESIC THERAPY

Code GP005410
CFU 1
Teacher Giorgia Della Rocca
Teachers
  • Giorgia Della Rocca
Hours
  • 13 ore - Giorgia Della Rocca
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Discipline cliniche veterinarie
Academic discipline VET/07
Type of study-unit Obbligatorio (Required)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents Principles of pathophysiology pf pain. Main classes of painkillers.
Reference texts Textbook: G. della Rocca, A. Bufalari. Terapia del dolore negli animali da compagnia. Poletto Editore, 2016¿. PDFs of the lectures available on the "Unistudium" platform.
Educational objectives D1 - KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY
The student must acquire basic knowledge related to:
- ability to distinguish the various types of pain based on physiopathogenetic mechanisms and to identify the molecular targets of the action of analgesic drugs
- pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features of the considered pharmacological classes
- therapeutic indications of the considered pharmacological classes
- main contraindications and side effects of the considered pharmacological classes

D2 - ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the training activity the student must have the bases necessary to be able to make a reasoned choice for a correct therapeutic approach suitable for the management of pain in different painful situations that may affect pet animals or income, a choice that takes into account the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics characteristics, possible side effects and possible contraindications of drugs.

D3 - AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
At the end of the training the student must be able to set up appropriate pain protocols to be adopted in the veterinary clinical practice, with a view to correct patient management both in the course of internal pathologies and surgical interventions.

D4 - COMMUNICATION SKILLS
At the end of the training the student will be able to:
- know how to organize, prepare and exhibit, to an audience made up of people of equal level of preparation, a presentation on a pain topic with its own evaluations supported by appropriate arguments;
- support an adversarial process with people of equal preparation and experts in different issues, of a regulatory, scientific, procedural and / or technological nature;
- demonstrate language properties in both written and oral form, as well as the ability to use terminology that is sufficiently appropriate for a correct approach to the profession, which is also important for job interviews.

D5 - LEARNING SKILLS
At the end of the training the student will be able to:
- consult and understand scientific texts, even innovative ones, bibliographic updates, normative dictations, in such a way as to employ them in contexts not only usual for the profession, including research, but also originals;
- possess a sufficiently broad mastery of the subject to guarantee an acceptable basis for continuing professional updating throughout life, through ongoing lifelong learning.
Teaching methods The course is organized as follows: 

- Frontal lectures on all topics

- Self Directed Learning Activities in the classroom, with interactive debate on specific topics and/or multiple choice or "true or false" test (using a personal response system).
Students will be divided into groups (maximum 15 for each group), and each group will be further divided into sub-groups of up to 3-5 units each.
Other information
Extended program Theory:
Pathophysiology of pain (1,5 h)
Opioids (1,5 h)
Adiuvants drugs (2 h)
Local anestetics (1 h)
General anesthetics (3 h)
Of each class: physico-chemical characteristics, pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, therapeutic indications, side effects.

Practice/supervised:
- Discussion of the main causes and main types of pain found in animals of veterinary interest, with eventual introduction of Multiple choice Test or "True or False" test on the carried out part of the program (4 h).

GENERAL AND SPECIAL VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY

Code GP005407
CFU 5
Teacher Giorgia Della Rocca
Teachers
  • Giorgia Della Rocca
  • Alessandra Di Salvo (Codocenza)
Hours
  • 43 ore - Giorgia Della Rocca
  • 22 ore (Codocenza) - Alessandra Di Salvo
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Discipline cliniche veterinarie
Academic discipline VET/07
Type of study-unit Obbligatorio (Required)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents General pharmacology: principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Special pharmacology: Chemotherapy, drugs acting on CNS and PNS, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and  urinary systems Principles of pharmacovigilance.
Reference texts Belloli, Carli, Ormas: Farmacologia veterinaria. Idelson-Gnocchi, 2021. ¿PDFs pf the lectures available on the Unistudium platform.
Educational objectives D1 - KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY
The student must acquire basic knowledge related to:
- pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features of the considered pharmacological classes
- therapeutic indications of the considered pharmacological classes
- main contraindications and side effects of the considered pharmacological classes
- reasons and methods for reporting suspected adverse reactions

D2 - ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the training activity the student must have the bases necessary to be able to make a reasoned choice for a correct therapeutic approach for the prophylaxis and treatment of the main diseases concerning the various animal species of veterinary interest, a choice that has to consider the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics characteristics, possible side effects and possible contraindications of drugs.

D3 - AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
At the end of the training the student must be able to set up appropriate therapeutic protocols to be adopted in the veterinary clinical practice, with a view to correct patient management both in the course of internal pathologies and surgical interventions.

D4 - COMMUNICATION SKILLS
At the end of the training the student will be able to:
- know how to organize, prepare and exhibit, to an audience made up of people of equal level of preparation, a presentation on a topic of pharmacology with its own evaluations supported by appropriate arguments;
- support an adversarial process with people of equal preparation and experts in different issues, of a regulatory, scientific, procedural and / or technological nature;
- demonstrate language properties in both written and oral form, as well as the ability to use terminology that is sufficiently appropriate for a correct approach to the profession, which is also important for job interviews.

D5 - LEARNING SKILLS
At the end of the training the student will be able to:
- consult and understand scientific texts, even innovative ones, bibliographic updates, normative dictations, in such a way as to employ them in contexts not only usual for the profession, including research, but also originals;
- possess a sufficiently broad mastery of the subject to guarantee an acceptable basis for continuing professional updating throughout life, through ongoing lifelong learning.
Teaching methods The course is organized as follows: 

- Frontal lectures on all topics

- Self Directed Learning Activities in the classroom, with interactive debate on specific topics and/or multiple choice or "true or false" test (using a personal response system).
Students will be divided into groups (maximum 15 for each group), and each group will be further divided into sub-groups of up to 3-5 units each.

- Practical activity in the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology, were analytical determinations of xenobiotics by qualitative (eg: salification, colorimetric reactions), semi-quantitative (eg. ELISA) and quantitative (eg. HPLC) methods are performed. Students will be divided into groups (maximum 15 for each group), and each group will be further divided into sub-groups of up to 3 units, each headed by a station suitably prepared in the lab.
Other information
Extended program Theory:

General pharmacology: 
- Pharmaceutical formulations (1 h).
- Principles of pharmacokinetics: Passage of xenobiotics across biological membranes ¿ Routes of administration/introduction of xenobiotics and their absorption (2 h). Distribution of xenobiotics (1,5 h).¿ Metabolism of xenobiotics (1,5 h).¿ Excretion of xenobiotici (1,5 h)¿
- Principles of pharmacodynamics: Classification of the pharmacological action and mechanisms of action of xenobiotics (1,5 h). Drug-receptor interactions, drug-enzymes interaction, drug interaction with ion channels, membrane transporters. Dose-response curves (3 h). Factors modifying the pharmacological action (1,5 h).

Special pharmacology:
- Chemotherapy
Introduction, general aspects, associations, pharmacoresistence (1,5 h).
Sulphonamides and diaminopirimidines (1,5 h), ¿ Beta-lactamines (1,5 h), Tetracyclines,¿ Aminoglycosides (1,5 h), ¿Macrolides, phenicols (1,5 h), rifamycins, quinolones ¿(1,5 h).
Antielmintics, Antimicotics (1,5 h), Antiprotozoal, antiviral drugs (1,5 h), anticancer drugs (1,5 h). 
For each class of drugs: chemical properties, mechanism of action, antimicrobial spectrum, resistance mechanisms, pharmacokinetics features and side effects will be discussed. 

- Systematic pharmacology. 
Autacoids drugs: antihistamines (1,5 h), steroidal (1,5 h) and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (1,5 h).
CNS drugs: tranquilizers and sedatives(1,5 h), anticonvulsant (1,5 h) (NB: general anesthetics, local anesthetics, opioids and other analgesics are treated in the module "pharmacological basis of analgesic therapy").
Drugs of the SNP: Parasympathomimetic and parasympatholytic, sympathomimetic and sympatholytic drugs (3 h).
Drugs affecting the respiratory system: respiratory analeptics, bronchodilators, antitussives (1,5 h).
Drugs acting on the cardiovascular system: digitalis, vasodilators, antiarrhythmics (2 h).
Drugs affecting the gastrointestinal system: rugs acting stimulating or inhibiting the gastrointestinal motility, emetics and antiemetics, antacids, antisecretory, cytoprotective drugs (1 h).
Drugs acting on the urinary tract: diuretics (1,5 h).
For each class of drugs, chemical and physical characteristics, pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, therapeutic indications, side effects will be discussed. ¿

Principles of pharmacovigilance (Definitions, goals, means of implementation, with particular reference to the importance of reporting suspected adverse reactions) (1,5 h).

Practice/supervised:

- Multiple Response or "True or False" tests on General Pharmacology, and subsequent discussion on given responses (4 + 4 h).
- Approach with the laboratory equipments and the main drug-toxicological analytical techniques (qualitative, semiquantitative, quantitative) and preparation of serial dilutions and calibration curves construction (4 h).
- Drug analysis by screening analytical methods (ELISA) (4 h).
- Interactive discussion on pharmacovigilance cases (4 h).

TOXICOLOGY OF LARGE ANIMALS

Code GP005409
CFU 2
Teacher Alessandra Di Salvo
Teachers
  • Alessandra Di Salvo
Hours
  • 26 ore - Alessandra Di Salvo
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Discipline cliniche veterinarie
Academic discipline VET/07
Type of study-unit Obbligatorio (Required)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents Etiology, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics, effects and treatment of major poisoning that may involve livestock. Principles of residue toxicology and ecotoxicology.
Reference texts Intorre, Meucci: Tossicologia Veterinaria, Idelson-Gnocchi eds., 2023.
Mengozzi, Soldani: Tossicologia veterinaria. Idelson-Gnocchi eds., 2010
PDFs of the lectures available on the Unistudium platform.
Educational objectives D1 - KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY
The student must acquire basic knowledge related to:
- pharmacokinetic features and mechanism of action of the treated toxicological classes
- clinical and pathological effects resulting from the action of the considered toxic substances
- differential diagnosis
- therapy (specific or symptomatic) of the main poisonings
- methods for identifying and managing risk from residues of chemicals in food of animal origin and related legislation

D2 - ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the training activity the student must have the bases necessary to be able to carry out a correct diagnosis and therapy of the main poisonings concerning the farm animals, as well as for the management of residual problems concerning the safety of foodstuffs of animal origin, from the point of view of the protection of public health.

D3 - AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
At the end of the training the student must be able to correctly identify and diagnose intoxication and to set up appropriate therapeutic protocols to be adopted in the veterinary clinical practice, with a view to the correct management of the poisoned patient. Furthermore, the knowledge of the entire process of the risk analysis of residues in foodstuffs of animal origin destined for human consumption (in terms of risk assessment, management and communication) will favor the future veterinary medicine who will want to dedicate himself to issues related to food inspection.

D4 - COMMUNICATION SKILLS
At the end of the training the student will be able to:
- know how to organize, prepare and exhibit, to an audience made up of people of equal level of preparation, a presentation on a topic of toxicology with its own evaluations supported by appropriate arguments;
- support an adversarial process with people of equal preparation and experts in different issues, of a regulatory, scientific, procedural and / or technological nature;
- demonstrate language properties in both written and oral form, as well as the ability to use terminology that is sufficiently appropriate for a correct approach to the profession, which is also important for job interviews.

D5 - LEARNING SKILLS
At the end of the training the student will be able to:
- consult and understand scientific texts, even innovative ones, bibliographic updates, normative dictations, in such a way as to employ them in contexts not only usual for the profession, including research, but also originals;
- possess a sufficiently broad mastery of the subject to guarantee an acceptable basis for continuing professional updating throughout life, through ongoing lifelong learning.

Teaching methods The course is organized as follows: 

- Frontal lectures on all topics

- Self Directed Learning Activities in the classroom, with interactive debate on specific topics and conducting multiple-choice quizzes using the socrative system.
Students will be divided into groups (maximum 15 for each group).
Other information
Extended program Theory:
Insecticides: Organochlorine (1,5 h).
Dioxins, PCBs (1,5 h).
Herbicides (1,5 h). ¿
Heavy metals (3 h). ¿ ¿
Urea and ammonium salts, nitrites, nitrates (1,5 h). ¿
Mycotoxins (1,5 h).
Phytotoxins (1,5 h).
Of each toxic or toxic class: chemical and physical characteristics, pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, effects, and therapeutic principles and specific symptomatic will be discussed.

Principles of Toxicology of residues (sources of xenobiotic rsidues, risk to humans resulting from the assumption of residues, risk assessment, risk management - concepts NOEL, ADI, MRL, withdrawal times) and regolatory legislation (4,5 h).

Principles of ecotoxicology (exposure pathways of drugs and their environmental fate, possible effects of drug molecules on the environment and legislation) ((1,5 h).

Practice/supervised

- Discussion of clinical cases of toxicological interest and of the methods and principles for the collection, storage and transport of biological samples for toxicological investigations and compilation of the sample accompanying card (4 h).
- Supervised: multiple choice quiz on toxicology topics by the socrative system (4 h).

TOXICOLOGY OF PETS

Code GP005408
CFU 2
Teacher Giorgia Della Rocca
Teachers
  • Giorgia Della Rocca
Hours
  • 26 ore - Giorgia Della Rocca
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Discipline cliniche veterinarie
Academic discipline VET/07
Type of study-unit Obbligatorio (Required)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents Etiology, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics, effects and treatment of major poisoning that may involve pets.
Reference texts Mengozzi, Soldani: Tossicologia veterinaria. Idelson-Gnocchi eds., 2010.
PDFs of the lectures available on the Unstudium platform.
Educational objectives D1 - KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY
The student must acquire basic knowledge related to:
- pharmacokinetic features and mechanism of action of the considered toxicological classes
- clinical and pathological effects resulting from the action of the considered toxic substances
- differential diagnosis
- therapy (specific or symptomatic) of the main poisonings

D2 - ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the training activity, the student must have the necessary bases to be able to carry out a correct diagnosis and therapy of the main poisonings concerning pets.

D3 - AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT
At the end of the training activity, the student must be able to correctly identify and diagnose intoxication and set up appropriate therapeutic protocols to operate in the veterinary clinical practice, with a view to managing the intoxicated pet.

D4 - COMMUNICATION SKILLS
At the end of the training activity the student must be able to:
- know how to organize, prepare and exhibit, to an audience composed of people of equal level of preparation, a presentation on a topic of toxicology with its own assessments supported by appropriate arguments;
- support an adversarial process with people of equal preparation and experts in different issues, of a regulatory, scientific, procedural and / or technological nature;
- Define the ownership of the language in both written and oral form, as well as the ability to employ a carefully described terminology for a correct approach to the profession, which is also important for job interviews.

D5 - LEARNING SKILLS
At the end of the training activity the student must be able to:
- consult and understand scientific texts, even innovative ones, bibliographic updating, normative dictations, in such a way as to employ them in contexts not only usual for profession, including research, but also originals;
- possess a mastery of the necessary wide subject to guarantee an acceptable basis for continuing professional acceptance throughout life, through ongoing lifelong learning.
Teaching methods The course is organized as follows: 

- Frontal lectures on all topics

- Self Directed Learning Activities in the classroom, with interactive debate on specific topics.
Students will be divided into groups (maximum 15 for each group), and each group will be further divided into sub-groups of up to 3-5 units each.

- Practical activity in the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology, were analytical determinations of xenobiotics by qualitative (eg: salification, colorimetric reactions), semi-quantitative (eg. ELISA) and quantitative (eg. HPLC) methods are performed. Students will be divided into groups (maximum 15 for each group), and each group will be further divided into sub-groups of up to 3 units, each headed by a station suitably prepared in the lab.
Other information
Extended program Theory:

Sources and classification of toxicants (1,5 h).
Insecticides: Cholinesterase inhibitors: organophosphorines and carbamates (1,5 h), pyrethroids, fipronil, imidacloprid (1,5 h), amitraz (30’). ¿ Molluscicides: metaldehyde, methiocarb (1 h).
Anticoagulant rodenticides, rodenticides based on vit D (1,5 h), strychnine, crimidine (1,5 h), brometaline, a-chloralose, sodium fluoroacetate, ANTU, red squill, zinc phosphide (1,5 h).
Erbicides: paracquat. Ethylene glicol (1,5 h). Zootoxines (1,5 h).
"Indoor¿ poisoning": food (chocolate, onions, grapes, bread dough, xylitol) (1,5 h), abuse substances (drugs, alcohol, nicotine), household substances (hydrocarbons, soaps and detergents, acids, alkalis) (1,5 h), houseplants (1,5 h).
For any toxic or toxic class: chemical and physical characteristics, pharmacokinetics, mechanism of action, effects, and therapeutic principles and specific symptomatic.will be discussed.

Practices / supervised:

- Journal Club (4 h).
- Discussion of clinical cases of toxicological interest (4 h).
Condividi su