Worksheet for Drug Discovery and Design Extra Credit: Viper Venom 1

Go to this LINK for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) journal article titled, “From viper’s venom to drug design: treating hypertension.” Read the article and answer the following questions, then go to Tasks, Tests and Surveys to complete the multiple choice questions based on this article. Completion of the TTS questions may be worth 10 extra credit points.

1. The author points out that while dietary changes in sodium have been a mainstay of anti-hypertensive therapy in the US for many years, low sodium diets are often ______. 2. Diuretics were discovered because of side effects related to: ______3. Diuretics are associated with: ______and ______. 4. The article tells us that propranolol was originally marketed to treat ______. Sir James Black, a British Pharmacologist synthesized propranolol in the early 1960’s. It was found to decrease morbidity and mortality in ______patients, and according to the article, soon used to treat ______. 5. Verapamil was developed in an attempt to improve upon the antihypertensive capabilities of propranolol. Later, it was found that verapamil was not a beta-blocker and was not acting upon the sympathetic nervous system. Verapamil is ______specific for ______. 6. Vasodilators, diuretics, calcium channel blockers (CCB) and beta-blockers work best in patients with mild to moderate hypertension. Even in combination, they do not ______7. Once the role of Angiotensin was understood, the importance of the two metabolic “choke” points at Renin and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) became obvious. It was known that the venom of various snakes induced hypotension and that the venom of the Brazilian pit viper (Bothrops jararaca) could induce profound hypotension by ______8. The first oral ACEI, ______, was an early example of structure- based drug design. 9. List the benefits identified in the article of ACEI and ARBs. ______10. List the benefits identified in the article of taking combinations of ACEI, ARBs and CCBs Worksheet for Drug Discovery and Design Extra Credit: Viper Venom 1

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