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Package Insert is a form containing the indications, side effects and other relevant information known about a drug that can be found on the inside of any prescription drug container.

Palliative therapy that offers relief of symptoms or comfort without ameliorating the underlying disease process

Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreatitis, an occasional side effect of some drugs, can result in severe abdominal pain and death. Its onset can be predicted by rises in blood levels of the pancreatic enzyme amylase.

Papillomavirus is the virus group that includes the cause of genital warts or condylomata.

Pap Smear: a microscopic examination of the surface cells of the cervix, usually conducted on scrapings from the opening of the cervix. This assay is used to detect changes in cervical cells that could be forerunners of cancer.

Papule a small elevation or bump on the skin.

Parallel Track is a system for distributing certain experimental drugs to people who are unable to participate in ongoing clinical trials.

Paresthesia are abnormal sensations such as burning or tingling. Paresthesia may constitute the first symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, or it may be a limited drug side effect that does not worsen with time.

Partial agonist is an agonist that is unable to induce maximal activation of a receptor population, regardless of the amount of drug applied (See also Intrinsic activity).

Parenteraldrug administration is the non-oral delivery, including intravenous, intramuscular, and subcutaneous injections, sublingual, vaginal, intranasal delivery. Topical (through the skin or eye) or rectal administrations are also of importance.

Pathogen refers to any disease-provoking microorganism or material.

Pattern recognition is the identification of patterns in large data sets using appropriate mathematical methodologies.

PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction. Scientists use this technique to quickly increase the amount of a specific DNA sequence or to detect the existence of a defined sequence within a particular DNA sample.

Peptidomimetic is a compound containing non-peptidic structural elements that is capable of mimicking or antagonizing the biological action(s) of a natural parent peptide. A peptidomimetic does no longer have classical peptide characteristics such as enzymatically scissille peptidic bonds. (See also peptoids).

Peptoid is a peptidomimetic that results from the oligomeric assembly of N-substituted glycines.

Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition characterized by sensory loss, pain, muscle weakness and wasting of muscle in the hands or legs and feet.

Pfeiffer.s rule states that in a series of chiral compounds the eudismic ratio increases with increasing potency of the eutomer.

Pharmacodynamics is the study of the action of a drug in the body over a period of time, including the processes of absorption, distribution, localization in the tissues, biotransformation, and excretion.

Pharmacology is the branch of pharmacology that studies reactions between drugs and living structures, including the processes of bodily responses to pharmacological, biochemical, physiological, and therapeutic effects.

Pharmacogenomics is the study of how an individual.s genetic inheritance affects the body.s response to drugs. The term comes from the words pharmacology and genomics and is thus the intersection of pharmaceuticals and genetics.

Pharmacokinetics refers to the study of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of bioactive compounds in a higher organism. (See also Drug disposition).

Pharmacophore is the ensemble of steric and electronic features that is necessary to ensure the optimal supramolecular interactions with a specific biological target structure and to trigger (or to block) its biological response. A pharmacophore does not represent a real molecule or a real association of functional groups, but a purely abstract concept that accounts for the common molecular interaction capacities of a group of compounds towards their target structure. The pharmacophore can be considered as the largest common denominator shared by a set of active molecules. This definition discards a misuse often found in the medicinal chemistry literature, which consists of naming as pharmacophores simple chemical functionalities such as guanidines, sulfonamides or dihydroimidazoles (formerly imidazolines), or typical structural skeletons such as flavones, phenothiazines, prostaglandins or steroids.

Pharmacophoric descriptors are used to define a pharmacophore, including H-bonding, hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction sites, defined by atoms, ring centers and virtual points.

Placebo is an inert substance or dosage form which is identical in appearance, flavor and odor to the active substance or dosage form. It is used as a negative control in a bioassay or in a clinical study.

Platelet: a small, specialized cell fragment that triggers the clotting of blood so that damaged vessels stop bleeding. Normally 150,000 to 300,000 platelets are found in one cubic centimeter of blood, but platelet counts can become sharply depleted by action of certain drugs or diseases. Such depletion is called Thrombocytopenia. Another function of platelets is to collect antigen-antibody complexes in the blood. Platelets coated with such complexes are eliminated from the body. The source of platelets is megakaryocyte cells in the bone marrow.

Plasmids are a strand or loop of DNA material that exists independently of the chromosome in bacteria and yeast. In addition it is capable of genetic replication. Plasmids are used in recombinant DNA procedures as a vehicle of gene transfer.

Polarizability is the ease with which a dipole moment can be induced in a molecule experiencing an external electrical field.

Potency is the dose of drug required to produce a specific effect of given intensity as compared to a standard reference. Potency is a comparative rather than an absolute expression of drug activity. Drug potency depends on both affinity and efficacy. Thus, two agonists can be equipotent, but have different intrinsic efficacies with compensating differences in affinity.

Privileged Structures are particular molecules or moieties that have a high propensity to bind to proteins.

Prodrug is any compound that undergoes biotransformation before exhibiting its pharmacological effects. Prodrugs can thus be viewed as drugs containing specialized non-toxic protective groups used in a transient manner to alter or to eliminate undesirable properties in the parent molecule. (See also Double prodrug).

Prognosis: the probable future course of disease in a patient

Prophylaxis: treatment to prevent the onset of a particular disease (.primary. prophylaxis) or recurrence symptoms in an existing infection that has be brought under control (.secondary. prophylaxis, maintenance therapy).

Protectingn Group is a group that converts a reactive functional group into one that is stable to the conditions of a desired reaction.

Protozoa: a large group of one celled (unicellular) animals, including amoebas. Some protozoa cause parasitic diseases in people with AIDS, notably toxoplasmosis and cryptosporidiosis.

Pruritic itchy

Pulmonary: referring to or relating to the lungs.