General provisions

This course substitutes and corresponds to the 3FI101 or 3FI001, Pharmaceutical Biochemistry.

Entry requirements

The general rules laid down by the Curriculum Committee of the Faculty of Pharmacy apply (see programme curriculum).

For entry to the separate course, students are required to fulfil the basic requirements for university entry stated in the Higher Education Order and hold the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree or have an equivalent knowledge of the subject approved by the Faculty.

Learning outcomes

The course aims to give the student the knowledge needed to:

- describe the structural and functional properties of cells, their chemical composition and their overall metabolism with special reference to the situation in man

- describe the flow of genetic information and general mechanisms of gene regulation

- describe the digestion, absorption and metabolism in different organs and tissues of different nutrients and the main principles of regulation of these processes and pathological changes in the same

- use the knowledge achieved to identify the causes of disease and effects of existing drugs and development of new modes of treatment.

Content

The cell: Biochemistry and function of cell elements, cell membranes and transport across membranes. Protein chemistry: Amino acids, the composition, properties and structural levels of proteins.

Enzymology: Enzyme-substrate interaction, catalysis, substrates, inhibitors, coenzymes, enzyme kinetics.

Nucleic acid biochemistry: Replication, transcription, translation, gene regulation.

Human intermediary metabolism: Digestion and absorption of nutrients, energy metabolism of cells, including oxidative phosphorylation, metabolism and biosynthesis of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins and regulation and pathological changes of these processes, integration and hormonal regulation of the intermediary metabolism, biochemical functions of vitamins, signal substances.

The laboratory exercises include enzyme kinetics and analytical methods used in clinical chemistry.

The results of laboratory exercises are presented in writing.

Instruction

The tuition comprises lectures, seminars, group exercises and laboratory sessions.

Compulsory parts of the course:

All assignments in connection with laboratory sessions and announced seminaries.

Assessment

Written examination is held at the end of the course. Students are required to pass the compulsory parts of the course as well as the final examination.

Repetition of compulsory parts of the course may be done by agreement with the responsible tutor.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Students who have failed the first examination are allowed five re-examinations.