The
International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) is a voluntary, non-profit association representing the interests of scientists in
pharmacologyPharmacology is the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and exogenous chemicals that alter normal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals...
-related fields to facilitate
Better MedicinesA pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
through Global Education and Research around the world.
Established in 1959 as a section of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, IUPHAR became an independent organization in 1966 and is a member of the
International Council for ScienceThe International Council for Science , formerly called the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 as an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science...
(ICSU).
The
International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) is a voluntary, non-profit association representing the interests of scientists in
pharmacologyPharmacology is the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and exogenous chemicals that alter normal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals...
-related fields to facilitate
Better MedicinesA pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
through Global Education and Research around the world.
History
Established in 1959 as a section of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, IUPHAR became an independent organization in 1966 and is a member of the
International Council for ScienceThe International Council for Science , formerly called the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 as an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science...
(ICSU). The first World Congress of Pharmacology was held in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
in 1961 and subsequently held every three years. After 1990 the World Congresses were moved to a four-year interval. These meetings not only present the latest pharmacological advances in research accomplishments, technology, and methodology, but also provide a forum for international collaboration and exchange of ideas. A General Assembly, consisting of delegates from all the member societies, is convened during the congresses so member societies have an opportunity to elect the Executive Committee and vote on matters concerning the governance and activities of the union.
Composition
IUPHAR members are national societies from around the world, however, the various sections and committees are composed of individuals from
academiaAcademia, Acadème, or the Academy are collective terms for the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research....
,
pharmaceutical companiesThe pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies can deal in generic and/or brand medications. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations regarding the patenting, testing and marketing of drugs.-History:The...
, and government organizations, all working together to advance the field. The Division of Clinical Pharmacology focuses on the needs and research tools for clinicians. The Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR) facilitates the interface between the discovery of new sequences from the
Human Genome ProjectThe Human Genome Project was an international scientific research project with a primary goal to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to identify and map the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint...
and the designation of the derived proteins as functional receptors and ion channels. In other words, as new discoveries are made in pharmacology, NC-IUPHAR provides a uniform guideline for naming and classifying the results in the public domain. Sections specializing in various areas of pharmacology have been established, including Teaching,
Drug metabolismDrug metabolism is the metabolism of drugs, their biochemical modification or degradation, usually through specialized enzymatic systems. This is a form of xenobiotic metabolism. Drug metabolism often converts lipophilic chemical compounds into more readily excreted polar products...
, Gastrointestinal Pharmacology,
Natural ProductsA natural product is a chemical compound or substance produced by a living organism - found in nature that usually has a pharmacological or biological activity for use in pharmaceutical drug discovery and drug design...
, and
PharmacogeneticsThe terms pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics tend to be used interchangeably, and a precise, consensus definition of either remains elusive. Pharmacogenetics is generally regarded as the study or clinical testing of genetic variation that gives rise to differing response to drugs, while...
.
Activities
In general, IUPHAR offers individual pharmacologists free curriculum expertise, career development and job listings, research resources, and collaboration opportunities. IUPHAR offers its member societies venues for participating in world-wide initiatives, publicizing member meetings and activities, nominating individuals for Young Investigator awards, and naming delegates to the General Assemblies. For examples, visit the biannual newsletter entitled,
Pharmacology International at http://www.iuphar.org/pubs_newsletter.html .
A primary purpose of IUPHAR is providing global free access to a major, on-line repository of characterization data for
receptorsIn biochemistry, a receptor is a protein molecule, embedded in either the plasma membrane or cytoplasm of a cell, to which a mobile signaling molecule may attach...
, ion channels and
drugA drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
s through the Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification (NC-IUPHAR), which was established in 1987. This database includes all the
G proteinG proteins, short for guanine nucleotide-binding proteins, are a family of proteins involved in second messenger cascades.G proteins are so called because they function as "molecular switches," alternating between an inactive guanosine diphosphate and active guanosine triphosphate bound state,...
-coupled receptors,
voltage-gated ion channelVoltage-gated ion channels are a class of transmembrane ion channels that are activated by changes in electrical potential difference near the channel; these types of ion channels are especially critical in neurons, but are common in many types of cells....
s, 7TM receptors,
nuclear receptorIn the field of molecular biology, nuclear receptors are a class of proteins found within the interior of cells that are responsible for sensing the presence of steroid and thyroid hormones and certain other molecules...
s and, shortly,
ligand-gated ion channelLigand-gated ion channels are one type of ionotropic receptor or channel-linked receptor. They are a group of transmembrane ion channels that are opened or closed in response to the binding of a chemical messenger , such as a neurotransmitter.The binding site of endogenous ligands on LGICs...
s which are known to be in the
human genomeThe human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs. Twenty-two of these are autosomal chromosome pairs, while the remaining pair is sex-determining...
. Where relevant, data on the rat and mouse
homologuesIn evolutionary biology, homology refers to any similarity between characteristics of organisms that is due to their shared ancestry. The word homologous derives from the ancient Greek ομολογειν, 'to agree'. There are examples in different branches of biology...
are presented to assist researchers and clinicians in developing and/or enhancing therapeutics for eventual medication for humans.
As a non-government organization in official relations with the
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
(WHO), IUPHAR representatives help shape international policy on
essential medicinesEssential medicines, as defined by the World Health Organization are "those drugs that satisfy the health care needs of the majority of the population; they should therefore be available at all times in adequate amounts and in appropriate dosage forms, at a price the community can afford."The WHO...
, appropriate dose therapeutics for children, and
clinical pharmacologyClinical pharmacology is the science of drugs and their clinical use. It is underpinned by the basic science of pharmacology, with added focus on the application of pharmacological principles and methods in the real world...
core competencies among its many WHO-related activities.
The Division of Clinical Pharmacology compiled and released the Research in Humans Compendium, a free resource to provide the scientific community interested in human research with an easy-to-use reference on how to design a research
protocolIn the natural sciences a protocol is a predefined written procedural method in the design and implementation of experiments. Protocols are written whenever it is desirable to standardize a laboratory method to ensure successful replication of results by others in the same laboratory or by other...
to assess the effectiveness of a drug in a series of pathological conditions.
An important aspect of IUPHAR is the development of pharmacology in
developing countriesDeveloping country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing...
. In conjunction with the
International Council for ScienceThe International Council for Science , formerly called the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 as an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science...
, the Pharmacology for
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
(Phar
fA) initiative was undertaken in 2006 to promote and organize pharmacology on the African continent. The South African Society of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology is building a database and network of institutions and pharmacologists to create an infrastructure for training and funding pharmacologists. The long-term goal is for the African continent to attain the necessary pharmacological knowledge and resources to address the disease-related issues affecting the population.
Future Directions
The early years of the 21st century will be focused on integrating basic and clinical research into a continuous spectrum of investigation to implement
translational medicineTranslational Medicine is an emerging view of medical practice and interventional epidemiology, as a natural 21st century progression from Evidence-Based Medicine...
techniques more quickly. The 9th World Conference on Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics in
Québec CityQuébec , is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in the province – after Montreal, about to the southwest...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was the last IUPHAR meeting to present clinical pharmacology separately. The WorldPharma 2010 World Congress of Pharmacology in
CopenhagenCopenhagen ; ) is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,167,569 and a metropolitan area with a population of 1,875,179...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
will be the first completely integrated meeting. The expectation of merging these different approaches to the same discipline is to more quickly discover, devise, test and introduce new or higher quality therapeutics for humans.
Educational components will be emphasized for both existing pharmacology programs through an international initiative in Integrative and Organ Systems Pharmacology, as well as increasing and enhancing pharmacology training in developing countries through the Teaching Section. This topic will be a central theme of the XVIIth World Congress of Pharmacology being held in
Cape TownCape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, and the largest in land area, forming part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many...
,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
in 2014.
See also
- Drug design
Drug design, also sometimes referred to as rational drug design, is the inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of the biological target. The drug is most commonly an organic small molecule which activates or inhibits the function of a biomolecule such as a protein which...
- International Council of Science
- Medicinal chemistry
Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacology involved with designing, synthesizing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and development of new chemical entities suitable for...
- Pharmaceutical company
The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies can deal in generic and/or brand medications. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations regarding the patenting, testing and marketing of drugs.-History:The...
- Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and exogenous chemicals that alter normal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals...
External links