Hi, can anyone out there tell me the therapeutic classification for caffeine & nicotine ???? ta in advance !?

Answer 1

Nicotine is a nicotinic acetylcholine agonist. That means that it will activate a class of receptors for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. These receptors are part of an ion channel that is opened by acetylcholine. These receptors are found on skeletal muscle as well as in a number of areas in the brain.

Caffeine is quite a complex drug with a number of actions. Some of them are more relevant than others because a few (noted below) require concentrations higher than you're likely to take in. The reason most people consume caffeine is to increase alertness. This is achieved by caffeine's action as an adenosine antagonist (it blocks the actions of adenosine). A highly simplified explanation is that adenosine turns off alertness circuits in the brain - producing sleepiness. If the actions of adenosine are blocked, alertness follows.

Another obvious action of caffeine is the increase in urine production. This is due to two actions of caffeine. One action is that caffeine can cause vasoconstriction & elevate blood pressure. Although I won't go into the details of kidney physiology, the higher the blood pressure in the kidney, the more urine output. However, a more important action of caffeine in the kidney is that it inhibits sodium removal from the ascending limb of the loop of Henle. The loop of Henle is part of the nephron tubule where urine forms. Normally, the sodium pumped out of the ascending limb induces an osmotic gradient that then draws water out of the nephron tubule - reducing the volume of urine. Under the influence of caffeine, there is less of an osmotic gradient, so less water is removed from the forming urine.

Two other actions you'll see for caffeine probably aren't very important because the required concentrations are higher than you're normally take in. One is that caffeine can inhibit a class of enzymes called phosphodiesterases. These enzymes break down the second messengers cyclicAMP and cyclic GMP. These second messengers produce a wide range of actions upon cellular physiology. The last action of caffeine is that at very high concentrations, it can cause release of calcium from intracellular stores.

Answer 2

Stimulant

Answer 3

Both are Analeptics for classification. Not for use.

Answer 4

antidepressent