How to Prepare for GPAT Exam ?

HOW TO PREPARE FOR GPAT ?

The Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT) is an online national level examination for admission into all post graduate pharmacy programs approved and conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi.but now from 2019 it is conducted by NTA (National Testing Acency 
                            The GPAT is conducted annually for admission to the postgraduate courses in the affiliated institutes of AICTE and University Grants Commission (UGC). The GPAT score is also recommended for appearing in the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) examination and Ph.D. programmes in various universities.
        This exam require a candidate to be thoroughly with everything he has learned in B.Pharm course in  4yr  have a good strategy not harder study to crack the exam.

Some of the Preparation strategy , Pattern and Books  I share with you all 

Pattern of GPAT exam 

• It is online test (computer based) .which has 125 objective type question.
• The duration of Exam is 3 hours.Each and every correct answer awarded 4 marks and every wrong answer penalty of -1 mark . 
• Question mostly mainly cover subject 

1. Pharmacology - approximately 15-20 question
2. Pharmaceutics -approx.30
3. Pharmacognosy -approx.10-15 question
4. Pharmaceutical analysis -approx 10 ques.
5. Pharmaceutical Chemistry-approx 15-20 question
6. Other question from sub. like Microbiology,jurisprudence,dispensing,pathology,app etc 

Syllabus & Books 

DOWNLOAD GPAT SYLLABUS 

Pharmacology

It is very important subject maximum weightage covered in this section to crack a Gpat exam .Many student find this subject as a very tough but seriously it is a very interesting subject if u spend time to study or you have a right knowledge which topic or what to study ? In future posts i 'll tell you How to Study Pharmacology?

In pharmacology topics covered in exam

1. Drug interaction
2. Mechanism of Action
3. Side effect
4. Adverse effect 
5. Classification of Drugs 
6. Important topics :-
7. CNS & ANS
8. Chemotherapy
9. CVS and blood product

Recommended books :-Pharmacology by  K.D Tripathi

Pharmacognosy

This is a very theoretical subject .Aspirants must read the chapter and makemicronotes based on it. these micro notes help in last minute revision.

Important topics in this section are-

• Glycosides
• Alkaloids
• Volatile Oil
• Resins
• Carbohydrate 
• Tannins
• Plant Tissue Culture
• Herbal Drugs 
• And Some Tests

Recommended Books for Pharmacognosy :- Pharmacognosy by C.K .Kokate ,Tease and Evans

Pharmaceutics

This section is essential for all student appearing in GPAT.
Subject under this section

• Physical Pharmacy
• Biopharmaceutics
• Dispensing Pharmacy
• Cosmetics

Important topics 

• Tablet and Capsule
• Parentral
• Sterilization
• Surface and INterfacial tension
• Rheology

Recommended books  :- The Theory and Practice of Industrial Pharmacy by Liebermann and Lachman.

Now Most Important topic 
Preparation Tips and Strategy 

Most of the Student i have seen that they work hard but never succed in exam because work hard but not smarter . Every year 40000 -50000 in India student appear in exam but only clear the exam 4000-8000 student every year

• First think Why You appearing in Exam ? Give time to think a genuine reason ....
• Dream it .
• If u want a Top AIR100 rank prepare before 7-8 month .
• NOW ,make a time table and stick to it and complete subject in 3-4 months.and make a micro notes that help in last time revision.
• Now you have a 3 months and it is the time to give best or practice online test series 
• Online Test series is the major play a role in competitive exam .in online test series have 

1. Topic wise test 
2. Subject wise test 
3. Mock test 

• These test give you a practice.and PRACTICE MAKE A MAN PERFECT
• Revision Strategy is also a major role because if u don't revise a subject with in 15-20 days that subject look like a new subject so revision is essential within 15 days 
• Revision a micronotes 3-4 times in prepration.

If you want to know which online test series join comment in comment section.
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What are the Various Route of Drug Administration

What are the Various Route of Drug Administration 

Route of drug administration

Most drugs can be administered by a variety of routes .The choice appropriate route in a given situation depend both on drug as well as patient related factors. Mostly common sense consideration ,feasibility ,and convenience dictate the route to be used .

Routes can be broadly divided into those for :-

• Local action
• Systemic action

Local Route

These route can be used for localized lesions at accessible sites and for drugs whose systemic absorption from these sites is minimal or absent .

Thus, high concentrations are attained are the desired sites without exposing the rest of the body. Systemic side effect or toxicity are consequently absent or minimal. for drugs (in suitable dosage forms) that are absorbed from these sites /routes ,the same can serve as systemic route of administration e.g. glyceral trinitrates (GTN) applied on the skin as ointment or transdermal patch. The local routes are :-

• Topical :- 

This refers to external application of the  drug to the surface for localized action . It is often more convenient as well as encouraging to the patient . Drugs can be  efficiently delivered to the localized lesions on skin ,orophyrngeal /nasal mucosa ,eye ,ear canal,anal canal,or vagina in the form of lotion ,ointment,cream ,powder,rinse ,paint,drops ,spray,lozenges,suppositories,or pesseries.

• Deeper Tissues :- 

Certain deep areas can be approached by using a syringe and needle ,but the drug should be such that systemic absorption is slow ,e.g intra -articular injection ( hydro cortisone acetate), infiltration around a nerve or intrathecal injection (lidocaine ) , retrobulbar injection (hydrocortisone acetate).

• Arterial supply :- 

Close intra -arterial injection is used for contrast media in angiography ;anticancer drugs can be infused in femoral or bronchial artery  to localize the effect for limb malignancies .

Systemic Routes:-

The drug administered through systemic routes is intended to be absorbed into the blood stream and distributed all over ,including the site of action, through circulation .

• Oral:-

Oral ingestion is the oldest and commonest mode of drug administration .It is safer ,more convenient ,does not need assistent noninvasive, often painless , medicament need not to be sterile and so is cheaper .Both solid dosage forms (powders, tablets, capsules, spansules, dragees, moulded tablets, gastrointestinal therapeutic systems—GITs) and liquid dosage forms (elixirs, syrups, emulsions, mixtures) can be given orally.

Limitations of oral route of administration

• Action of drugs is slower and thus not suitable for emergencies.

• Unpalatable drugs (chloramphenicol) are difficult to administer; drug may be filled in capsules to circumvent this.

• May cause nausea and vomiting (emetine).

• Cannot be used for uncooperative/unconscious/ vomiting patient.

• Absorption of drugs may be variable and erratic; certain drugs are not absorbed (streptomycin).

• Others are destroyed by digestive juices (penicillin G, insulin) or in liver (GTN, testosterone, lidocain e).

• Sublingual (s.l.) or buccal

The tablet or pellet containing the drug is placed under the tongue or crushed in the mouth and spread over the buccal mucosa. Only lipid soluble and non-irritating drugs can be so administered.
            Absorption is relatively rapid—action can be produced in minutes. Though it is somewhat inconvenient, one can spit the drug after the desired effect has been obtained. The chief advantage is that liver is bypassed and drugs with high first pass metabolism can be absorbed directly into systemic circulation. Drugs given sublingually are—GTN, buprenorphine, desaminooxytocin.

• Rectal

Certain irritant and unpleasant drugs can be put into rectum as suppositories or retention enema for systemic effect. This route can also be used when the patient is having recurrent vomiting or is unconscious. However, it is rather inconvenient and embarrassing; absorption is slower, irregular and often unpredictable, though diazepam solution is rapidly and dependably absorbed from rectum in children.

• Cutaneous

Highly lipid soluble drugs can be applied over the skin for slow and prolonged absorption. The liver is also bypassed. The drug can be incorporated in an ointment and applied over specified area of skin. Absorption of the drug can be enhanced by rubbing the preparation, by using an oily base and by an occlusive dressing.

• Inhalation

Volatile liquids and gases are given by inhalation for systemic action, e.g. general anaesthetics. Absorption takes place from the vast surface of alveoli—action is very rapid. When administration is discontinued the drug diffuses back and is rapidly eliminated in expired air. Thus, controlled administration is possible with moment to moment adjustment. Irritant vapours (ether) cause inflammation of respiratory tract and increase secretion.

• Nasal

The mucous membrane of the nose can readily absorb many drugs; digestive juices and liver are bypassed. However, only certain drugs like GnRH agonists and desmopressin applied as a spray or nebulized solution have been used by this route. This route is being tried for some other peptide drugs, like insulin.

• Parenteral (Par—beyond, enteral—intestinal)

This refers to administration by injection which takes the drug directly into the tissue fluid or
blood without having to cross the intestinal mucosa. The limitations of oral administration
are circumvented.   
                        Drug action is faster and surer (valuable in emergencies). Gastric irritation and vomiting are not provoked. Parenteral routes can be employed even in unconscious, uncooperative or vomiting patient. There are no chances of interference by food or digestive juices. Liver is bypassed.
Disadvantages of parenteral routes are—the preparation has to be sterilized and is costlier, the technique is invasive and painful, assistance of another person is mostly needed (though self injection is possible, e.g. insulin by diabetics), there are chances of local tissue injury and, in general, parenteral route is more risky than oral.

The important parenteral routes are:

• Subcutaneous (s.c.)

 The drug is deposited in the loose subcutaneous tissue which is richly supplied by nerves (irritant drugs cannot be injected) but is less vascular (absorption is slower than intramuscular). Only small volumes can be injected s.c. Self-injection is possible because deep penetration is not needed.

• Intramuscular (i.m.) 

The drug is injected in one of the large skeletal muscles—deltoid, triceps, gluteus maximus, rectus femoris, etc. Muscle is less richly supplied with sensory nerves (mild irritants can be injected) and is more vascular (absorption of drugs in aqueous solution is faster).
It is less painful, but self injection is often impracticable because deep penetration is needed. Depot preparations (oily solutions, aqueous suspensions) can be injected by this route.
   Intramuscular injections should be avoided in anticoagulant treated patients, because it can produce local haematoma.

•  Intravenous (i.v.)

 The drug is injected as a bolus (Greek: bolos–lump) or infused slowly over hours in one of the superficial veins. The drug reaches directly into the blood stream and effects are produced immediately (great value in emergency). The intima of veins is insensitive and drug gets diluted with blood, therefore, even highly irritant drugs can be injected i.v., but hazards are— thrombophlebitis of the injected vein and necrosis of adjoining tissues if extravasation occurs. These complications can be minimized by diluting the drug or injecting it into a running i.v. line. Only aqueous solutions (not suspensions) can be injected i.v. and there are no depot preparations for this route.
                                               The dose of the drug required is smallest (bioavailability is 100%) and even large volumes can be infused. One big advantage with this route is—in case response is accurately measurable (e.g. BP) and the drug short acting (e.g.
sodium nitroprusside), titration of the dose with the response is possible. However, this is the most risky route—vital organs like heart, brain, etc. get exposed to high concentrations of the drug.

• Intradermal injection

 The drug is injected into the skin raising a bleb (e.g. BCG vaccine, sensitivity testing) or scarring/multiple puncture of the epidermis through a drop of the drug is done. This route is employed for specific purposes only.

More about Prodrugs and Teratogenicity 

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Prodrugs

ProDrugs

Some drugs are inactive as such and need conversion in the body to one or more active metabolites. Such drug is called prodrug .The prodrug may offer advantages over the active form in being more stable ,having better bioavailability or other desirable pharmacokinetics properties or less side effects or toxicity .Some prodrug are activated selectively at  the site of action :-




ACTIVE  DRUG                                 ACTIVE METABOLITE

Chloral hydrate                                      Trichloroethanol
Morphine                                               Morphine -6-glucuronide
Cefotaxime                                            Desacetyl cefotaxime
Allopurinol*                                             Alloxanthine
Procainamide                                        N-acetyl procainamide
Primidone                                              Phenobarbitone, phenylethlmalonamide
Diazepam                                              Desmethyl diazepam
Digitoxin                                                Digoxin
Imipramine*                                            Desipramine
Amitriptiline                                           Nortriptiline
Codeine                                                 Morphine
Spironolactone*                                      Canrenone
Losartan                                                E 3174

PRODRUG                                                 ACTIVE FORM

Levodopa*                                          Dopamine
Enalapril                                            Enalaprilat
ɑ-Methyldopa                                    ɑ -metylnorepinephrine
Dipivefrine                                         Epinephrine
Sulindac*                                            Sulfide metabolite
Proguanil                                           Cycloguanil
Prednisone*                                         Prednisolone
Bacampicillin                                      Ampicillin
Sulfasalazine                                      5- Amino salicyclic acid
Cyclophosphamide                            Aldophosphamide,acrolein
Fluorouracil                                        Fluorouridine monophosphate
Mercaptopurine                                  Methylmercaptopurine ribonucleotide
Acyclovir                                             Acyclovir triphosphate

* Question Asked Most of the Pharmacy Exams..
Read About Teratogenicity And Route of Drug Administration

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What is Teratogenicity ? And what are Teratogenic Drugs ?

What is Teratogenicity ? And what are Teratogenic Drugs ?

Teratogenicity refers to capacity of a drug to cause foetal abnormalities when administered to the pregnant mother . The placenta does not strictly constitute a barrier and any drug can cross it to a greater or lesser extent . The embryo is one of the most dynamics biological system and in contrast to adults,drug effect are often irreversible . The thalidomide disaster (1958-61)resulting in thousand of babies born with phocomelia (seal like limbs )and other defect focused attention to this type of adverse effect .

Drug can affect the foetus at 3 stages --

• Fertilization and implantation
• Organogenesis
• Growth and development

Some of the human teratogenic drugs are given below --

• Thalidomide *  -                 phocomelia ,multiple defect
• Anticancer Drugs -           cleft plate ,hydrocephalus, multiple defect
• Androgen -                       virilization ;limb,esophageal,cardiac defects
• Progestins -                      virilization of female foetus 
• Stilboestrol* -                    vaginal carcinoma in teenage female offspring
• Tetracycline* -                   discoloured and deformed teeth
• Warfarin* -                         depressed nose ;eye and hand defect,growth retardation
• Phenytoin                          hypoplastic phalanges, cleft plate,microcephaly
• Phenobabitoin -                 various malformation 
• Carbamazepine                 neural tube defect,other abnormalities
• Valproate sod. -                 spina bifida,neural tube defect
• Alcohol*  -                         low IQ baby,growth retardation,foetal alcohol syndrome
• ACE Inhibitors* -               hypoplasia of organs,growth retardation
• Lithium -                            foetal goitre,cardiac and other abnormalities
• Antithyroid drugs -             foetal goitre,and hypothyrodism
• Indomethacin/Aspirin* -      premature closure of ductus arteriosus
• Isotretinoin -                      craniofacial, heart and CNS defect

Teratogenicty

* Important drugs asked in G-PAT test series and other Pharmacy Exams

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