36^th World Congress on Pharmacology July 25-26, 2023 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect cellular function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behaviour. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioural and molecular. Behavioural neuropharmacology focuses on the study of how drugs affect human behaviour (neuropsychopharmacology), including the study of how drug dependence and addiction affect the human brain. Molecular neuropharmacology involves the study of neurons and their neurochemical interactions, with the overall goal of developing drugs that have beneficial effects on neurological function. Both of these fields are closely connected, since both are concerned with the interactions of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides neuro hormones, neuromodulators, enzymes, second messengers, co-transporters, ion channels, and receptor proteins in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Studying these interactions, researchers are developing drugs to treat many different neurological disorders, including pain, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, psychological disorders, addiction, and many others.

Toxicology is the scientific study of adverse effects that occur in living organisms due to chemicals. It involves observing and reporting symptoms, mechanisms, detection and treatments of toxic substances, in particular relation to the poisoning of humans. It includes environmental agents and chemical compounds found in nature, as well as pharmaceutical compounds that are synthesized for medical use by humans. These substances may produce toxic effects in living organisms including disturbance in growth patterns, discomfort, disease and death.

Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology and clinical chemistry to aid medical or legal investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use. The primary concern for forensic toxicology is not the legal outcome of the toxicological investigation or the technology utilized, but rather the obtainment and interpretation of results. A toxicological analysis can be done to various kinds of samples. A forensic toxicologist must consider the context of an investigation, in particular any physical symptoms recorded, and any evidence collected at a crime scene that may narrow the search, such as pill bottles, powders, trace residue, and any available chemicals. Provided with this information and samples with which to work, the forensic toxicologist must determine which toxic substances are present, in what concentrations, and the probable effect of those chemicals on the person.

The Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology is dedicated to define disease processes, understanding both drug actions and adverse reactions, developing novel therapeutic strategies for intervention and optimizing the benefit–risk ratio of current and new drugs. We are based within the Institute of Translational Medicine, whose overall aim is to take basic scientific understanding and translate it into innovations for the benefit of patients, the public and health systems across the world.

Concept of Pharmacovigilance and its Significance enhances the impact of pharmacovigilance on patient welfare and public health and to know what is Pharmacovigilance. This track gives a brief discussion on Pharmacovigilance role in healthcare system. Pharmacovigilance legislation gives an outlook on the rules and laws to follow in Pharmacovigilance practice. The Role of Pharma industries in the improvement of pharmacovigilance system is very crucial to maintain the safety data, Detection and Evaluation of drug safety signals through manual and medical devices reporting. Pharmacovigilance scope also deals as Ecopharmacovigilance (EPV), pharmacoenvironmentology and pharmacovigilance in herbal medicine.

The pharmaceutical and Toxicological industry is directly impacted by the research conducted with prescription drugs, vaccines, and OTC drugs being manufactured based on findings from the study of life sciences. Clinical trials are conducted to ensure that products being developed are tested on how well they work on individuals affected by the diseases or conditions they are created to treat.

In drug development, preclinical development, also termed preclinical studies or nonclinical studies, is a stage of research that begins before clinical trials and during which important feasibility, iterative testing and drug safety data are collected, typically in laboratory animals.

Cardiovascular Pharmacology deals with the study of the effects of drugs upon the heart or circulatory system. It mainly contributes to the safety profile of potential new drugs and provides pharmacological data that can be used for optimization of further compounds and the ultimate selection of compounds suitable for clinical development. The cardiac drugs affect the function of the heart in three main ways. They can affect the force of contraction of the heart muscle (inotropic effects), they can affect the frequency of the heart beat or heart rate (chronotropic effects) or they can affect the regularity of the heart beat (rhythmic effects). Drugs can also affect blood vessels by altering the state of compression of the smooth muscle in the vessel wall, altering its diameter and accordingly directing the volume of blood stream. Such medications are classified as vasoconstrictors or vasodilators depending on the smooth muscle lining contraction and relaxation respectively..

In a context of severe pharmaceutical pollution, “ecopharmacovigilance” (EPV) has been an area of novel interest. It aims to ensure that significant environmental issues associated with pharmaceuticals in the environment are identified in a timely way, and managed appropriately. EPV has become a research hotspot as a comprehensive and boundary science in Europe and North America, and regulatory requirements governing the comprehensive environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pharmaceuticals exist in these regions. A speedy Chinese pharmaceutical industry development and drug consumption, China should shoulder more international responsibility and contribute to the worldwide EPV. Compared to the west, EPV in China is in its infancy. We analyzed the current state of EPV-related practice in China and found that many efforts have been made by the Chinese government and specialists to control the ever-worsening environmental pharmaceutical pollution problems, including consummating related policies and regulations, revealing the occurrence and behavior of pharmaceutical residues in environment and developing new technologies to improve their removal performance.

Drug safety testing is happening in a growing number of countries including Austria, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United States and the UK. This briefing discusses testing using sophisticated analytical equipment, not DIY kits that cannot identify many contaminants, or strength. Drug safety testing is happening in a growing number of countries including Austria, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United States and the UK. This briefing discusses testing using sophisticated analytical equipment, not DIY kits that cannot identify many contaminants, or strength.

Immunopharmacology is that area of pharmacological sciences dealing with the selective variation of specific immune responses and, in Particular, of immune cell subsets. The first generation of immune-modulating agents included molecules drawn from oncology.  The second generation, notably cyclosporine, exploited some natural agents able to block several signal transduction pathways.To deal with the expanding field of immunopharmacology, some limitations are required. However, in recent years, the advances about how the immune system works have identified several molecular targets suitable for more selective modulation of immune function. These targets can be broadly divided into surface molecules and soluble mediators. Surface molecules play a fundamental role in antigen recognition, immune response activation, homing and effector functions. Soluble mediators are involved in lymphocyte proliferation and differentiation, inflammatory response and cell recruitment.

Ophthalmic diseases include both those analogous to systemic diseases (eg, inflammation, infection, neuronal degeneration) and not analogous (eg, cataract, myopia). Many anterior segment diseases are treated pharmacologically through eye drops, which have an implied therapeutic index of local therapy. Unlike oral dosage forms administered for systemic diseases, eye drops require patients not only to adhere to treatment, but to be able to accurately perform-i.e., instil drops correctly. Anatomical and physiological barriers make topical delivery to the anterior chamber challenging-in some cases more challenging than absorption through the skin, nasal passages, or gut. Treatment of the posterior segment (eg, vitreous, retina, choroid, and optic nerve) is more challenging due to additional barriers. Recently, intravitreal injections have become a standard of care with biologics for the treatment of macular degeneration and other diseases. Although the eye has esterase’s, hydroxylases, and transporters, it has relatively little CYP450 enzymes. Because it is challenging to obtain drug concentrations at the target site, ocular clinical pharmacokinetics, and thus pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamics interactions, is rarely available. Ophthalmic pharmaceuticals require consideration of solubility, physiological pH, and osmolarity, as well as sterility and stability, which in turn requires optimal pharmaceutics. Although applied locally, ocular medications may be absorbed systemically, which results in morbidity and mortality (eg, systemic hypotension, bronchospasm, and bradycardia).

Clinical pharmacy is the discipline of Pharmacy where pharmacists are meant to provide patient care which helps in optimizing the use of drugs and improves health, wellness, and prevents diseases. This session is dealt with topics like basic components of clinical pharmacy practice Prescribing drugs, Reviewing drug use, Administering drugs, Counselling, Documenting professional services, Consulting, Preventing Medication Errors etc.,

All pharmaceutical researchers know the feeling. Somewhere out there must be that elusive molecule — one that will inhibit this enzyme or activate that receptor in the way they want, and without causing unwanted side-effects. But finding it is another matter. For small-molecule drugs — the mainstay of the pharmaceutical industry — time-consuming and expensive screening is needed to pick out promising candidates from the vast number of natural and synthetic compounds available. Testing large numbers of compounds to see if they produce an appropriate biochemical or cellular effect is usually one of the first steps in the drug-discovery pathway, and ways of making this screening faster, more effective and less expensive are in continual development

Safety pharmacology evaluations are an essential step in assessing acute and potentially life-threatening risks of novel pharmaceuticals as part of an IND-enabling program. Second-tier safety pharmacology studies can be used to determine mechanistic effects on vital functions and evaluate potential adverse effects on organ systems such as renal and gastrointestinal systems.

Statistical analysis is one of the foundations of evidence-based clinical practice, a key in conducting new clinical research and in evaluating and applying prior research. In this paper, we review the choice of statistical procedures, analyses of the associations among variables and techniques used when the clinical processes being examined are still in process. We discuss methods for building predictive models in clinical situations, and ways to assess the stability of these models and other quantitative conclusions. Techniques for comparing independent events are distinguished from those used with events in a causal chain or otherwise linked. Attention then turns to study design, to the determination of the sample size needed to make a given comparison, and to statistically negative studies.

Adverse drug reactions can be considered a form of toxicity; however, toxicity is most commonly applied to effects of over ingestion (accidental or intentional) or to elevated blood levels or enhanced drug effects that occur during appropriate use (eg, when drug metabolism is temporarily inhibited by a disorder or another drug). For information on toxicity of specific drugs see the table Symptoms and Treatment of Specific Poisons. Side effect is an imprecise term often used to refer to a drug’s unintended effects that occur within the therapeutic range. Because all drugs have the potential for adverse drug reactions, risk-benefit analysis (analysing the likelihood of benefit vs. risk of ADRs) is necessary whenever a drug is prescribed

Biochemical pharmacology uses the methods of biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, structural biology, cell biology, and cell physiology to define the mechanisms of drug action and how drugs influence the organism by studies on intact animals, organs, cells, subcellular compartments and individual protein molecules. The biochemical pharmacologist also uses drugs as probes to discover new information about biosynthetic and cell signalling pathways and their kinetics, and investigates how drugs can correct the biochemical abnormalities that are responsible for human illness, thus enabling the elucidation of pathophysiological mechanisms that pave the way for further drug discovery.