BIOC 3262 - Medical Biochemistry
Course Description
The formation, composition and analysis of urine, stool and blood. Clinical significance and laboratory handling. Mechanisms for the release of cellular enzymes into circulation. Criteria for selection of plasma enzyme tests. Examples of clinically important enzymes. A brief outline of the structure and function of the kidney – the nephron. The role of the kidney in maintaining water balance, ionic equilibria and acid-base balance. Acute and chronic diseases of the kidney. Effect of diabetes on renal function. The buffer systems in blood. The roles of the kidney and lung in regulating blood pH. Symptoms and compensatory mechanisms of the various disorders. The anion gap. Procedures for assessing acidbase status. Treatment of acid-base disturbances. Outline of the anatomy and excretory/secretory functions of the liver. Review of the major synthetic activities and the roles of the liver in detoxification and drug metabolism. Clinical and biochemical features of acute liver disease. Chronic liver disease cirrhosis, clinical and biochemical features, major complications. Laboratory tests for assessment of liver function and for differential diagnosis of liver disease. Relationship of plasma lipids to the pathogenesis of arterial disease. Laboratory investigation of plasma lipid abnormalities. Thyroid hormone metabolism. Mechanism of thyroid hormone action and regulation of secretion. Disorders of the thyroid –Laboratory investigation of thyroid function. Pathways of catecholamine biosynthesis and metabolism. Regulation of steroidogenesis. Mechanism of action of steroid hormones and their physiologic effects. Secretion, metabolism and excretion of steroids. Biochemical and clinical features of disorders of the adrenal cortex, testis, ovary.
Assessment
