GENERAL PATHOLOGY, PHARMACOLOGY AND PHARMACEUTICAL BOTANY

Integrated educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

DIE21B2

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2021/2022

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in DIETISTIC

Moduls:

GENERAL PATHOLOGY - 3 credits
CLINICAL PATHOLOGY - 1 credits
PHARMACOLOGY AND PHARMACEUTICAL BOTANY - 2 credits

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Prerequisites:

The student must have basic knowledge of biology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology.

Objectives

The aim of the Integrate Course is to provide the students with the knowledge fixed in the general program of the Study Course “Dietetics”, that will let the students to adequately understand the concepts of the basic disciplines and evaluate the most relevant elements that cause the pathological processes that develop during all the different phases of the life (childhood, adulthood, oldness) in order to address tailored dietetical interventions, in collaboration with other professional figures in the health environment

- The specific aims of the course “General Pathology” concern the comprehension of the physiopathological mechanisms of the human diseases. The Course will allow the students to acquire the specific skills in terms of scientific and technical terminology devoted to the understanding of the appearance and the development of the diseases.
- The specifics aims of the course “Clinical Pathology “will concern the comprehension of the basis of laboratory medicine with the aim to identify the diagnostic markers of the diseases. The Course will dissect the composition of the biological fluids and of will analyse molecular markers in physiopathological conditions with the aim to help in the diagnostic path of the diseases.
- The specifics aims of the course “Paharmacology and Pharmaceutical Botany”, will concern the comprehension of the pharmacological basis of therapy, of the main classes of drugs and plant species with particular attention to those that have effects on dietary behavior and metabolism, of the drugs and plant species of greater use with particular attention to the potential interactions with the nutrients.

The aim of the Integrate Course is to let the students to acquire scientific expertise that will aid the future Dietician to work in different sanitary environments, Public, Private, and Industry. The Integrate Course will provide the students with tools that will enable them to improve the skills in relating to other professional figures (doctors, nurses, psychologists) that, in an increasingly multidisciplinary approach, will be called to take care of the patients. Finally, the Integrate Course will allow the students to ameliorate their skills to study independently or in study group and to acquire the functional methodological tools for an autonomous update.

Contents

The Integrate Course “General Pathology, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Botany” includes three matter of study for a total of 6 CFU (formative credits), that are: 1) General Pathology (3 CFU), 2) Clinical Pathology (1 CFU), and 3) Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Botany (2 CFU). The Integrate Course tackles, in a coordinate way, the causes and the molecular mechanisms involved, that change the health status to the sick status (module “General Pathology, 3 CFU); the laboratory medicine, that analyses human samples (tissue, blood and other patients’ fluids) in order to help in the diagnostic path (module “Clinical Pathology”, 1 CFU); and the principles of pharmacology/pharmacodynamics (that study the mechanisms of drugs), with particular attention to single classes of drugs of interest to the professional figure Dietician, and of pharmaceutical botany that describes the properties of plants mainly used in the dietetic field. The contents of the Integrate Course aim to provide the students with the knowledge fixed in the general program of the Study Course “Dietetics”, that will let the students to adequately understand the concepts of the basic disciplines and evaluate the most relevant elements that cause the pathological processes that develop during all the different phases of the life (childhood, adulthood, oldness) in order to address tailored dietetical interventions.

Extended Syllabus

General Pathology
1) Aetiology and cellular pathology: health and disease concepts, aetiology and pathogenesis. Environmental diseases: diseased caused by chemical or physical agents. Microbiologic agents and the patterns of disease caused by them. Molecular mechanisms of pathogenicity: PAMPS,
PRR, DAMS.
2) Cellular damage and adaptations, reversible and irreversible cell injury: necrosis and apoptosis.
3) Body defenses against pathogen agents. The first (mechanical/physical barriers), second (innate immunity) and third line (specific immunity,
cellular and antibodies) of defence, The immunodeficiency. The autoimmune diseases. The allergies.
4) Inflammatory-reparative response: aetiology and classification of acute inflammation, chemical mediators, vascular changes and exudates
formation, cellular events and phagocytosis, systemic consequences and aetiopathogenesis of fever; chronic and granulomatous inflammation;
reparative response: tissue repair and wound healing, fibrosis. Inflammatory diseases.
5) The physiopathology of fever and thermoregulation.
6) Tumoral transformation as proliferative disease. Molecular basis of tumoral tramsformation: oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The
causes of cancer including chemicals and biological agents, the phenotype of the transformed cell, the genes causing and restricting cancer growth, tumor classification; carcinogenesis; epidemiology and prevention; the molecular mechanisms of tumor progression and metastatization. The relationship between cancer cells and tumoral microenvironment. Inflammation and cancer. Nutrition and cancer.
7) Causes and mechanisms of malnutrition. Molecular mechanisms of atherosclerosis, formation of atheromatous plaque and related consequences; thrombosis; embolism; infarction; hypoxia and cyanosis; oedema. Physiopathology of the gastro-intestinal tract (gastritis, ulcer, reflux gastric-esiphageal, celiac disease, Crhon disease). Mechanism of diabetes, classification and consequences.

Clinical Pathology
- Laboratory Medicine: terminology, unit of measure, values of reference,data interpretation. Collection of the biological samples. The sensitivity
and the specificity of the predictive values.
- Diagnostic values in haematology: the anemias, fibrinolysis and the control of blood coagulation.
- The chemical mediators of inflammation.
- Markers in cancer.
- Markers of diabetes.
- Clinical enzymology and the values of liver and pancreas function.
- Analysis of urine samples.
- Mentions about vaccines and serotherapy.

Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Botany
Pharmacology:
Definition of drug and dietary supplement, regulatory differences.
Principles of pharmacokinetics: drug absorption, bioavailability, distribution, biotransformation, induction and enzymatic inhibition, excretion.
Principles of pharmacodynamics: receptors, dose-response relationship, agonists, partial agonists, antagonists.
Factors that modify the action of drugs: age; tolerance; placebo and nocebo effects.
General concepts on interactions between drugs.
Side effects, toxicity from overdose, idiosyncratic and allergic reactions.
Teratogenesis and fetal toxicity.
Drugs used in the treatment of anorexia and bulimia.
Drugs active on gastrointestinal system (essential lines on the most commonly used drugs such as antiulcer, antiemetics, prokinetics, laxatives).
Antidiabetic drugs.
Drug-food interaction.
Influence of drugs on nutritional status and availability of nutrients.
Pharmaceutical botany:
The plant kingdom as a natural source of substances that can be used in different fields, among which, the dietary and therapeutic ones.
Plants currently of greatest interest in the field of nutrition and diet, with particular attention to the habitat, the geographical spread and the part
of the plant used.
Particular attention will be paid to: a) plants with polysaccharides of dietary interest, for example: aloe, mallow and altea, psyllium, flax
(seminal integuments), prickly pear, tamarind, carob, cassia, guar gum, calendula, polysaccharides from red algae (agar agar and carrageenan),
from brown algae (alginates), the polysaccharides of the sheath of blue algae, (the most known food plants are not taken into consideration); b)
spontaneous and cultivated medicinal plants; c) aspects of the cultivation of the main medicinal plants

Recommended Bibliography

Every teacher will indicate the textbooks for the indicated module at the beginning of the academic year.
In brief:

Regarding the Pharmacology and Pharmaceutica Botany Course, in the absence of specific textbooks dedicated to students of this type of Study Program, is suggested the consultation of specific chapters on classic pharmacology texts (last edition) such as, Farmacologia generale e speciale per le lauree sanitarie Cella, Di Giulio, Gorio, Scaglione Piccin Ed, Farmacologia -H.P. Rang, M.M. Dale, J.M. Ritter, P.K. Moore, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana;
regarding Pharmacological Botany, the consultation of specific chapters on Felice Senatore, Biologia e Botanica farmaceutica. Piccin; Maugini E, Maleci-Bini L, Mariotti Lippi M.: Manuale di Botanica farmaceutica. VIII Ed. Piccin.

For the Course of General Pathology, several texbooks are available for the students of this tyoe of Study Program:
- G. M. Pontieri, Elementi di Patologia Generale per i Corsi di Laurea in
Professioni Sanitarie, Ed. Piccin;
- T.D. Spector, J.S. Axford, Introduzione alla Patologia Generale, Ed. Casa
Editrice Ambrosiana;
- M. Parola, Patologia Generale, Ed. EdiSES

Regarding the Clinical Pathology Course, in the absence of specific textbooks dedicated to students of this type of
Study Program the teacher will supply with paper handouts useful for the
comprehension of the topics.

Other important tools for the individual preparation are represented, on the advice of the teacher, by the consultation of "Pubmed" and/or of
scientific papers, useful for an updated comprehension of the course. Further specific bibliographic indications can be provided directly by the
teacher during the course. Any additional materials will be made available by the teacher to supplement the recommended texts and
uploaded on the dedicated website.

Teaching Methods

The teaching is divided into lectures whose purpose is to transmit concepts, information and schemes useful for the comprehension of the scientific subjects.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The evaluation method consists of oral examination, at the end of the semester, and the topics under examination will reflect those discussed during the lessons and present in the program. The exam mode and the evaluation methos will be indicated by the teacher at the beginning of the lessons. The evaluation will be based on the knowledge of the topics covered by the exam questions and the student's logical-argumentative skills. For the purposes of the evaluation, the quality of the oral presentation will also be taken into consideration with particular reference to the competence in the use of the specialized lexicon. The final grade is calculated as the average of the different modules included in the integrated course (each with result above 18/30).

Contacts/More Information

At the beginning of each Academic Yer, the Teachers will establish the time and day for the Students Reception, mainly at the Campus Universitario, Chieti Scalo. The details can be found in the specific modules.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree