Clarification on Inhibitor / Antagonist / Agonist

by Laura
(CA)

I've been working as a tech for five years, and found myself woefully and frustratingly unprepared for any of the practice exams. I've been using this site and a study guide to get ready for my test at the end of April, and I keep coming across things that I was either never taught or aren't covered in my study material on practice exams.

Practice Exam #4, question 11 is one of those things.

A drug class that causes a natural biological action to NOT occur is called :

A. Inhibitor

B. Prohibitor

C. Antagonist

D. Agonist

The answer was C, and I followed the link back to drug class definitions, but was unable to puzzle out where it defined these (maybe I've got burnout and just can't see it right now).

So, an antagonist causes a natural biological action to NOT occur.

Can someone help me with a simple definition for the other three? Wikipedia is a bit too technical.

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Clarification on Inhibitor / Antagonist / Agonist

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May 08, 2011
 To antagonize
by: RANDOLPH PACULGUEN

IT ANTAGONIZES THE SPECIFIC EFFICACY/POTENCY OF THE DRUGS WHILE ON THE STAGE OF METABOLISM..

ANY NATURALLY OCCURRING UNTOWARD EFFECTS OR EVEN ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECT CAN BE AVOIDED...

ANTA-MEANS GO AGAINST, PREVENT, OR MIMIC..

RANDOLPH PACULGUEN,R.Ph.,M.A.
Jul 28, 2011
 Definitions of all four terms
by: Ross Jones

Inhibitor:
1. An agent that slows or interferes with a chemical action
2. A substance that reduces or suppresses the activity of another substance (as an enzyme). An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to enzymes and decreases their activity.

Prohibitor:
1. to refuse to permit; forbid by law or by an order
2. to prevent; hinder

Antagonist: A receptor antagonist is a type of receptor ligand or drug that does not provoke a biological response itself upon binding to a receptor, but blocks or dampens agonist-mediated responses.

Agonist: An agonist is a chemical that binds to a receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance. Whereas an agonist causes an action, an antagonist blocks the action of the agonist.

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