active principle

active principle

n.

A constituent of a drug, usually an alkaloid or glycoside, on which the characteristic therapeutic action of the substance largely depends.

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principle [prin´sĭ-p'l]

1. a chemical component.

2. a substance on which certain of the properties of a drug depend.

3. an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct; in a given philosophical system it is a fundamental or general law or truth from which others are derived. In bioethics some important principles are beneficence, justice, nonmaleficence, and respect for autonomy; these are derived in part from professional roles and traditions.

active principle any constituent of a drug that helps to confer upon it a medicinal property.

Bobath p's a type of neurophysiological rehabilitation; see bobath method.

Bohr's principle of complementarity reflexes do not independently account for the complex nature of infant behavior.

negentropic principle a principle of general systems theory stating that open systems have mechanisms that slow down or arrest the process of movement toward less efficiency and growth. Negentropy (negative entropy) is the tendency toward order and organization.

pleasure principle (pleasure-pain principle) in psychoanalytic theory, an inborn tendency to avoid pain and seek pleasure through the immediate reduction of tension by either direct or fantasied gratification.

reality principle in psychoanalytic theory, the ego functions that modify the demands of the pleasure principle to meet the demands and requirements of the external world.

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active

not passive.

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active principle

the drugs or chemicals in a pharmaceutical preparation that exert an effect pharmacologically; as distinct from the inert fillers, wetting agents and other excipients also often included.

active site

that region of a protein, usually an enzyme, that binds to another molecule such as the substrate of the enzyme.

active transport

the movement of ions or molecules assisted by a carrier protein across the cell membranes and epithelial layers, usually against a concentration gradient, resulting directly from the expenditure of metabolic energy. For example, under normal circumstances more potassium ions are present within the cell and more sodium ions extracellularly. The process of maintaining these normal differences in electrolytic composition between the intracellular fluids is active transport. The process differs from simple diffusion or osmosis in that it requires the expenditure of metabolic energy.

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principle

1. a chemical component.

2. a substance on which certain of the properties of a drug depend.

3. a law of conduct.

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active principle

any constituent of a drug that helps to confer upon it a medicinal property.

reasonable person principle

the basis for many decisions in cases alleging negligence. The court bases its judgment on what it considers a reasonable person, a reasonable veterinarian in our context, would have done in the circumstances. This is the evidence that most expert witnesses are asked to give, evidence about what should be expected of a member of their profession in terms of quality of performance. Called also principle of the reasonable person.