Pharmacodynamics

From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery

Pharmacodynamics is the study of the biochemical and physiological effects of drugs on the body or on microorganisms or parasites within or on the body and the mechanisms of drug action and the relationship between drug concentration and effect.[1] One dominant example being drug-receptor interactions as modeled by:

L + R \ \leftrightarrow \ L\! \cdot \!R

where L=ligand (drug), R=receptor (attachment site), reaction dynamics that can be studied mathematically through tools such as free energy maps. Pharmacodynamics is often summarized as the study of what a drug does to the body, whereas pharmacokinetics is the study of what the body does to a drug. Pharmacodynamics is sometimes abbreviated as "PD", and when referred to in conjunction with pharmacokinetics can be referred to as "PKPD".