MCQ of Pharmacology
1. All of the following are general mechanisms of drug permeation Except
(a) Aqueous diffusion
(b) Aqueous hydrolysis
(c) Lipid diffusion
(d) Pinocytosis or endocytosis
(e) Special carrier transport
2. If the plasma concentration of a drug declines with “first-order kinetics”, this
means that
(a) There is only one metabolic path for drug disposition
(b) The half-life is the same regardless of the plasma concentration
(c) The drug is largely metabolized in the liver after oral administration and has low
bioavailability elimination
(d) The rate of climination is proportionate to the rate of administration at all times
(e) The drug is not distributed outside the vascular system
3. Regarding termination of drug action
(a) Drug must be exerted from the body to terminate their action
(b) Metabolism of drugs always increases their water solubility
(c) Metabolism of drugs always abolishes their pharmacologic activity
(d) Hepatic metabolism and renal excretion are the two most important mechanisms involved
(e) Distribution of a drug out of the bloodstream terminates the drug’s effect
4. Distribution of drugs to specific tissues
(a) Is independent of blood flow to the organ
(b) Is independent of the solubility of the drug in that tissue
(c) Depends on the unbound drug concentration gradient between blood and tissue
(d) Is increased for drugs that are strongly bound to plasma proteins
(e) Has no effect on the half-life of the drug
5. A physical process by which a weak acid becomes less water-soluble and more
lipid-soluble at low pH is
(a) Distribution
(b) Elimination
(c) First-pass effect
(d) Permeation
(e) Protonation
6. Dose-response curves are used for drug evaluation in the animal laboratory and in the clinic, Quantal dose-response curves are often
(a) Used for determining the therapeutic index of a drug
(b) Used for determining the maximal efficacy of a drug
(c) Invalid in the presence of inhibitors of the drug being studied
(d) Obtained from the study of intact subject
(e) Used to determine the statistical variation (standard deviation) of the maximal response
to the drug.
7. The following are excreted faster in basic urine
(a) Weak acids
(b) Strong acids
(c) Weak Bases
(d) None of the above
8. Which of the following statements about spare receptors is most correct ?
(a) Spare receptors, in the absence of drug, are sequestered in the cytoplasm
(b) Spare receptors will be detected if the intracellular effect of drug-receptor interaction lasts longer than the drug-receptor interaction itself
(c) Spare receptors influence the maximal efficacy of the drug-receptor system
(d) Spare receptors activate the effector machinery of the cell without the need for a drug
(e) Spare receptors may be detected by the finding that the EC50 is greater than the Kd for the agonist
9. Which of the following terms best describes an antagonist that interacts directly with the agonist and not at all or only incidentally, with the receptor ?
(a) Pharmacological antagonist
(b) Partial agonist
(c) Physiological antagonist
(d) Chemical antagonist
(e) Noncompetitive antagonist
10. Which of the following terms best describes a drug that blocks the action of epinephrine at its receptors by occupying those receptors without activating them ?
(a) Pharmacological antagonist
(b) Partial agonist
(c) Physiological antagonist
(d) Chemical antagonist
(e) Noncompetitive antagonist
11. Which of the following provides information about the variation in sensitivity of the drug within the population studied ?
(a) Maximal efficacy
(b) Therapeutic index
(c) Drug potency
(d) Grade dose-response curve
(e) Quantal dose-response curve
12. Which of the following most accurately describes the transmembrane signaling process involved in steroid hormone action ?
(a) Action on a membrane spanning tyrosine kinase
(b) Activation of a G protein which activates or inhibits adenyl cyclase
(c) Diffusion into the cytoplasm and binding to an intracellular receptor
(d) Diffusion of “STAT” molecules across the membrane
(e) Opening of transmembrane ion channels
13. Which of the following is a phase II drugmetabolizing reaction ?
(a) Acetylation
(b) Deamination
(c) Hydrolysis
(d) Oxidation
(e) Reduction
14. Which of the following drugs may inhibit the hepatic microsomal P450 responsible for warfarin metabolism
(a) Cimetidine
(b) Ethanol
(c) Phenobarbital
(d) Procainamide
(e) Rifampin
15. With regard to clinical trials of new drugs, which of the following is most correct ?
(a) Phase I involves the study of a small number of normal volunteers by highly trained clinical
pharmacologists
(b) Phase II involves the use of the new drug in a large number of patients (100-5000) who have the disease to be treated
(c) Phase III involves the determination of the drug’s therapeutic index by the cautious induction of toxicity
(d) Chemical antagonist
(e) Phase II requires the use of a positive control (a known effective drug) and a placebo
16. An ima l testing of potential new therapeutic agents
(a) Extends over a time period of at least 3 years in order to discover late toxicities
(b) Requires the use of at least two primate species, eg. Monkey and baboon
(c) Requires the submission of histopathologic slides and specimens to the FDA for government evaluation
(d) Has good predictability for drug allergy-type reactions
(e) May be abbreviated in the case of some very toxic agents used in cancer
17. The “dominant lethal” test involves the treatment of a male adult animal with a chemical before mating; the pregnant female is later examined for fetal death and abnormalities. The dominant lethal test therefore is a test of
(a) Teratogenicity
(b) Mutagenicity
(c) Carcinogenicity
(d) All of the above
(e) None of the above
18. The Ames test is a method for detecting
(a) Carcinogenesis in rodents
(b) Carcinogenesis in primates
(c) Teratogenesis in any mammalian species
(d) Teratogenesis in primates
(e) Mutagenesis in bacteria
19. “N icot in ic” sites include a l l of the following except
(a) Bronchial smooth muscle
(b) Adrenal medullary cells
(c) Parasympathetic ganglia
(d) Skeletal muscle
(e) Sympathetic ganglia
20. A good example of chemical antagonism
(a) Heparin & Protamine
(b) Protamine & Zinc
(c) Heparin & Prothrombin
(d) All the above
21. Which of the following agents is a prodrug that is much less toxic in mammals than in insects
(a) Acetylcholine
(b) Bethanechol
(c) Physostigmine
(d) Pilocarpine
(e) Neostigmine
22. Phenylephrine causes
(a) Constriction of vessels in the nasal mucosa
(b) Increased gastric secretion and motility
(c) Increased skin temperature
(d) Miosis
(e) All of the above
23. Pretreatment with propranolol will block which one of the following ?
(a) Methacholine-induced tachycardia
(b) Nicotine-induced hypertension
(c) Norepinephrine-induced bradycardia
(d) Phenylephrine-induced mydriasis
24. Most drug receptors are
(a) Small molecules with a molecular weight between 100 and 1000
(b) Lipids arranged in a bilayer configuration
(c) Proteins located on cell membranes or in the cytosol
(d) DNA molecules
(e) RNA molecules
25. With regard to distribution of a drug from the blood into tissues
(a) Blood flow to the tissue is an important determinant
(b) Solubility of the drug in the tissue is an important determinant
(c) Concentration of the drug in the blood is an important determinant
(d) Size (volume) of the tissue is an important determinant
(e) All of the above are important determinants
26. The pH value is calculated mathematically as the
(a) Log of the hydroxyl ion (OH–) concentration
(b) Negative log of the OH– concentration
(c) Log of the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration
(d) Negative log of the H+ concentration
(e) Ratio of H+/OH– concentration
27. Which property is classified as colligative?
(a) Solubility of a solute
(b) Osmotic pressure
(c) Hydrogen ion (H+) concentration
(d) Dissociation of a solute
(e) Miscibility of the liquids
28. The colligative properties of a solution are related to the
(a) pH of the solution
(b) Number of ions in the solution
(c) Total number of solute particles in the solution
(d) Number of unionized molecules in the solution
(e) pKa of the solution
29. The pH of a buffer system can be calculated with the
(a) Noyes – Whitney equation
(b) Henderson – Hasselbalch equation
(c) Michaelis – Menten equation
(d) Yong equation
(e) Stokes equation
30. Which mechanism is most often responsible for chemical degradation?
(a) Racemization
(b) Photolysis
(c) Hydrolysis
(d) Decarboxylation
(e) Oxidation
31. Which equation is used to predict the stability of a drug product at room temperature from experiments at accelerated temperature?
(a) The stokes equation
(b) The Yong equation
(c) The Arrhenius equation
(d) The Michaelis – Menten equation
(e) The Hixson – Crowell equation
32. Based on the relation between the degree of ionization and the solubility of a weak acid, the drug aspirin (pKa 3.49) will be most soluble at
(a) pH 1.0
(b) pH 2.0
(c) pH 3.0
(d) pH 4.0
(e) pH 6.0
33. The particle size of the dispersed solid in a suspension is usually greater than
(a) 0.5 µm
(b) 0.4 µm
(c) 0.3 µm
(d) 0.2 µm
(e) 0.1 µm
34. In the extemporaneous preparation of a suspension, levigation is used to
(a) Reduce the zeta potential
(b) Avoid bacterial growth
(c) Reduce particle size
(d) Enhance viscosity
(e) Reduce viscosity
35. Active transport differs from facilitated transport in following ways, except
(a) Carrier is involved
(b) It is against concentration gradient
(c) Energy is required
(d) All of the above
36. Vanishing cream is an ointment that may be classified as
(a) A water –soluble base
(b) An oleaginous base
(c) An absorption base
(d) An emulsion base
(e) An oleic base
37. Rectal suppositories intended for adult use usually weigh approximately
(a) 1g
(b) 2g
(c) 3g
(d) 4g
(e) 5g
38. In the fusion method of making cocoa butter suppositories,which substance is most likely to be used to lubricate the mold?
(a) Mineral oil
(b) Propylene glycol
(c) Cetyl alcohol
(d) Stearic acid
(e) Magnesium silicate
39. A very fine powdered chemical is defined as one that
(a) Completely passes through a # 80 sieve
(b) Completely passes through a # 120 sieve
(c) Completely passes through a # 20 sieve
(d) Passes through a # 60 sieve and not more than 40% through a # 100 sieve
(e) Passes through a # 40 sieve and not more than 60% through a # 60 sieve
40. Which technique is typically used to mill camphor?
(a) Trituration
(b) Levigation
(c) Pulverization and intervention
(d) Geometric dilution
(e) Attrition
41. Which type of paper best protects a divided hygroscopic powder?
(a) Waxed paper
(b) Glassine
(c) White bond
(d) Blue bond
(e) Vegetable parchment
42. Which capsule size has the smallest capacity?
(a) 5
(b) 4
(c) 1
(d) 0
(e) 000
43. The shells of soft gelatin capsules may be made elastic or plastic–like by the addition of
(a) Sorbitol
(b) Povidone
(c) Polyethylene glycol
(d) Lactose
(e) pKa of the solution
44. Nonionic surface-active agents used as synthetic emulsifiers include
(a) Tragacanth
(b) Sodium lauryl sulphate
(c) Sorbitan esters(spans)
45. A ceramic mortar may be preferable to a glass mortar when
(a) A volatile oil is added to a powder mixture
(b) Colored substances (dyes) are mixed into a powder
(c) Comminution is desired in addition to mixing
46. Divided powders may be dispensed in
(a) Individual-dose packets
(b) A bulk container
(c) A perforated, sifter –type container
47. Agents that may be used to coat enteric coated tablets include
(a) Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose
(b) Carboxymethyl cellulose
(c) Cellulose acetate phthalate
48. For each tablet processing problem listed below, select the most likely reason for the condition
(a) Excessive moisture (1) Picking in the granulation
(b) Entrapment of air (2) Mottling
(c) Tablet friability (3) Capping
(d) Degraded drug (4) Sticking
49. Match the drug product below with the type of controlled-release dosage form that it represents
(a) Matrix device (1) Biphenamine Capsules
(b) Ion-exchange (2) Thorazine resin complex Spansule Capsules
(c) Hydrocolloid (3) Valrelease system
(d) Osmotic system (4) Slow - K
50. The route of drug administration that gives the most rapid onset of the pharmacological effect is
(a) Intramuscular injection
(b) Intravenous injection
(c) Intradermal injection
(d) Peroral administration
(e) Subcutaneous injection
