Pharmacokinetic study with computational tools in the medicinal chemistry course

Abstract

To improve the teaching-learning process in the Medicinal Chemistry course, new strategies have been incorporated into practical classes of this fundamental discipline of the pharmaceutical curriculum. Many changes and improvements have been made in the area of medicinal chemistry so far, and students should be prepared for these new approaches with the use of technological resources in this field. Practical activities using computational techniques have been directed to the evaluation of chemical and physicochemical properties that affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs. Their objectives were to allow students to know these tools, to learn how to access them, to search for the structures of drugs and to analyze results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Brazil to demonstrate the use of computational practices in teaching pharmacokinetics. Practical classes using Osiris and Molinspiration were attractive to students, who developed the activities easily and acquired better theoretical knowledge.