GENERAL

INTRODUCTION
AND BASIC
BIOCHEMICAL
PRINCIPLES
 What is health?
According to WHO, health is a state of
complete physical, mental and social well-
being and not only the absence of disease.
From biochemical point of view, health is a
state in which all intra and extracellular
reactions of the body occur at rates,
appropriate with the organism’s maximal
survival in the physiologic state.
 WHAT IS BIOCHEMISTRY?
Biochemistry in general deals with body
substance like enzymes, carbohydrates, amino
acids, fats, proteins, hormones, DNA, RNA,
pigments etc.
• It describes their origin, formation,
function, deficiency symptoms etc. It tries to
explain life in terms of biochemical reactions.
One can understand all the chemical reactions
happening at the molecular level in a living cell or
living being.
Common Functional Groups
Common Condensation Reactions
 Common Enzymatic Conversions

Oxidation-Reduction

Phosphorylation Phosphatase
 Terms/Concepts to Review
• Hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity
• Aromatic and aliphatic
• Ionic, or electrostatic, interactions
• Hydrogen bonds
• van der Waals interactions
• Covalent bonds
 What is disease?
A disease may be abnormalities of
biomolecules, chemical reactions, or of
biochemical processes. The major factors that
are responsible for causing diseases in animals
and humans may be physical, chemical,
biological, lack of oxygen, genetic,
immunologic, nutritional, endocrine etc.
 Major Causes of Disease
• Physical Agents: mechanical trauma, temperature
extremes, radiation, electric shock
• Chemical Agents: toxic compounds, drugs
• Biologic Agents: viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites,
biochemistry professors
• Genetic Disease
• Oxygen Lack: loss of blood, decreased oxygen-carrying
capacity of blood, mitochondrial poisoning
• Immunologic Reactions: anaphylaxis, autoimmune
disorders
• Nutritional Imbalances: deficiencies, excesses
• Endocrine Imbalances: hormonal deficiencies/excesses
 These factors affect on important biochemical reactions as
well as on biomolecules. Biochemical studies help in
diagnosis and treatment of most of these conditions e.g.
some biochemical investigations of laboratory in relation to
diabetes mellitus are:
1. To assist in the diagnosis of specific diseases (diabetes
mellitus).
2. To reveal the fundamental causes of diseases (genetic
disorder).
3. To act as screening tests for the early diagnosis of certain
diseases (blood sugar level).
4. To suggest rational treatments of the diseases (sugar free
diet).
5. To assist in monitoring the progress (recovery, worsening,
reduction, or relapse) of diseases
6. To assist in assessing the response of diseases to therapy.
Role of Pharmaceutical Biochemistry
in the Health Profession
There is a reciprocal relationship exist between
pharmaceutical biochemistry and health
profession. The basic aims of health profession
are to get the understanding and maintenance
of health and understanding and effective
treatment of diseases. Biochemistry greatly
effects on both aspects. Biochemical studies
clarified many aspects of health and disease, and
conversely, the study of various aspects of health
and disease has opened up new areas of
biochemistry. Following diagram is better
explaining this two-way street.
Two-Way Street: Medicine and
Biochemistry
Sugars/Carbohydrates
Membrane Lipids
Sterols
 Fatty Acids
Saturated and Unsaturated
Which Compound Would be Found
in a Membrane?
Nucleic Acids: Components of RNA
and DNA
 DNA:
double helix
Adenosine Triphosphate - ATP
 Amino Acids:
Protein Building Blocks
Levels of Protein Structure
 Human Genome Project
• A rough draft is complete, >90% sequenced
• Represents approximately 75,000 human genes
(estimated range: 30,000 to 120,000)
• Based on the DNA from six individuals; thus provides
little information regarding genetic diversity within the
population
• Estimated that 95% of our DNA content is not
important; represents evolutionary “baggage”
• Highlights the need for continued sequencing of
genomes from other organisms to identify essential
genes and their functions
 IMPORTANCE OF BIOCHEMISTRY
IN MEDICINE
Physiology: Biochemistry helps one understand the biochemical
changes and related physiological alteration in the body. Pathology of
any disease is studied through biochemical changes.
• Pathology: Based on the symptoms described by the patient, the
physician can get a clue on the biochemical change and
the associated disorder. For example, if a patient complains about
stiffness in small joints, then the physician may predict it to be gout
and get confirmed by evaluating uric acid levels in the blood. As uric
acid accumulation in blood results in gout.
• Nutrition deficiency: In the present scenario, many people rely on
taking multivitamin & minerals for better health. The function and role
of the vitamin in the body are described only by biochemistry.
• Hormonal deficiency: There are many disorders due
to hormonal imbalance in especially women and children. The
formation, role of hormones in the normal body function is taught in
biochemistry by which the physician can understand the
concerned problem during treatment.
 IMPORTANCE OF BIOCHEMISTRY
IN PHARMACY
• Drug Constitution: Biochemistry gives an idea of the constitution of the
drug, its chances of degradation with varying temperature etc. How
modification in the medicinal chemistry helps improve efficiency,
minimize side effects etc.
• The half-life: This is a test done on biochemical drugs to know how long a
drug is stable when kept at so and so temperature.
• Drug storage: The storage condition required can be estimated by the
biochemical test.For example many enzymes, hormones are stored
for dispensing. These get deteriorated over time due to temperature or
oxidation, contamination and also due to improper storage.
• Drug metabolism: It also gives an idea of how drug molecules
are metabolized by many biochemical reactions in presence of enzymes.
This helps to avoid drugs which have a poor metabolism or those with
excessive side effects from being prescribed or dispensed to the patient.
• Biochemical tests: These tests helps fix the specific half-life or date of
expiry of drugs.
 Proteomics
• Proteomics – the study of how all proteins
interact with each other in a cell
• Estimate 50,000 to 2,000,000 human proteins
• The amino acid sequence of a protein can be
determined from the gene sequence, but in
most cases, this cannot be used to predict
overall 3D-structure or function; usually this is
done by X-ray crystallography
• Only about 1% of proteins have had their 3D
structures determined
 The Next 40 years in Medicine
(Predictions made by Francis Collins M.D./Ph.D., director of the National
Human Genome Research Institute)

Predictions - 2010 Predictions - 2020

• Primary care providers will • Gene-based designer drugs
will be marketed for some
practice genetic medicine diseases
• Cancer therapies will target
• Preimplantation diagnoses the molecular fingerprint of
of fertilized embryos will be each tumor type
widely available • Drug susceptibility will be
determined before a
• Gene therapy will be prescription is written
• Genomic intervention via
routinely used for a few homologous recombination
conditions will be used to insert genes
without interfering with
neighboring genes
 The Next 40 years in Medicine
(Predictions made by Francis Collins M.D./Ph.D., director of the National
Human Genome Research Institute)

Predictions - 2030 Predictions - 2040

• Human aging genes will be • Comprehensive genomics-
based healthcare will be
fully catalogued; clinical standard.
trials designed to increase • Individualized preventive
treatments will be available
life span will be initiated and effective.
• Computer models of human • Gene therapies and gene-
based drug therapies will be
cells will be available for available for most diseases.
research • Newborn testing for disease
pre-disposition in adulthood
• Complete genome will be feasible.
sequencing will cost less • The average lifespan will reach
90 yrs.
than $1,000 per person
 Nature of Biochemical Reactions
• Biochemical reactions are the complicated
form of organic reactions in the living
organisms. Living organisms have enzymes
that accelerate the rate of these reactions but
the basic chemistry is same. Although there
are many possible biochemical reactions, they
fall into only a few types.
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions Reactions involving
• When a biochemical reaction movement of functional
results in the loss of electrons it groups within or between
is called an oxidation reaction. molecules
When electrons are gained in a • For example, the transfer of
reaction it is a reduction phosphate groups from
reaction. Oxidations and oxygen atom of one
reductions always go together molecule to the oxygen
since electrons are passed from
atom of other molecule.
one molecule to another. Such
coupled reactions are referred
to as redox reactions.
• The metabolic processes of the
human body like glycolysis,
Kreb's Cycle, and Electron
Transport Chain involve the
transfer of electrons by redox
reactions.
Reaction involving the addition
and removal of water Bond-breaking reactions

• For example, hydrolysis of an • For example, carbon-carbon

amide linkage to an amine and bond breakage. A reaction
a carboxyl group
of glycolysis e.g. breakdown
of F1,6-biphosphate to
Regulation of Biochemical
Reactions: glyceraldehydes-3-
• Biochemical reactions should phosphate and
not go too fast or too slow. dihydroxyacetone
These reactions should occur phosphate.
at required state for proper
functioning of the cell. That is
why there is a very good
regulation system for these
reactions.
 Endergonic and Exergonic Reactions
Macromolecule or Biomolecules
• Macromolecule or Biomolecules is organic molecule that is covalently
linked to each other. Major complex biomolecules found in human are
nucleic acid, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. These biomolecules are
constructed by simple molecules like deoxyribonucleotides &
ribonucleotide, amino acid, fatty acid and glucose, respectively.
Supramolecules
• Macromolecules that are linked with each other by non-covalent bonds
are called supramolecules such as complex of peptides and nucleotides
(DNA and Proteins). Supramolecules further assembled into cell
organelles.
Elemental composition of human body
• More than 99% mass of human body is made up of six nutrients that are
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorous.
Normal chemical composition of human body
• Chemical composition of normal human body is water 60-70%, proteins
15%, lipids 15%, carbohydrates 2% & minerals 8%.