Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT): Biochemistry Syllabus

The Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT), opens doors to infinite opportunities for students from pharmaceutical domain. GPAT is a National level entrance exam for admission into prestigious NIPERs and University colleges. Since 2009, the importance of GPAT has increased as the branch turned into a autonomous exam and separated from GATE (PY). The exam will be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) from 2019, previously by AICTE under the guidance of MHRD, India.

Syllabus prescribed by NTA for GPAT, BIOCHEMISTRY is a minor subject containing the topics elaborated below.

• Cell

Revision of ultra structure of cell, functions of various cellular constituents. Applications of biochemical principles to pharmacy.

• Carbohydrates

Types of carbohydrates, their functions, digestion, & absorption. Aerobic & anaerobic oxidation with energetics. Glycogenesis, glycogenolysis, & gluconeogenesis. Hexose monophosphate shunt [HMP shunt]. Diseases associated with carbohydrate metabolism.

• Proteins

Different types of proteins. Their functions, digestion & absorption. Denaturation & its effect on biological activity. Renaturation of proteins. Urea formation, urea cycle, creatinine formation. Transamination & deamination. Proteins as enzymes.

• Lipids

Different types of lipids. Their functions, digestion, absorption & metabolism. (Beta Oxidation of fatty acids with energetics. Biosynthesis of cholesterol [from acetate], adrenocorticoids, androgens, progesterone, estrogens, & bile acids / salts. Ketone bodies, their formation & biochemical significance. Diseases associated with lipid metabolism.

• Vitamins

Definition. Classification, structures [except B12] biochemical role, sources, daily requirements, & deficiency symptoms. Vitamins as co-factors in biochemical reactions.

• Biological Oxidations & Reductions

Oxidation reduction systems in the body their role. Oxidative phosphorylation & Electron transport chain. Cytochromes & inhibitors of the same.

• Enzymes

Classification & their various roles. Enzyme co-factors. Enzyme kinetics. Michaelis Menton equation along with its transformations. Double reciprocal plot. Factors affecting enzyme action. Enzyme inhibition, competitive & noncompetitive, & kinetics.

• Nucleic Acids

Different types of nucleic acids [NAs] & their composition. Purine & pyrimidine bases, sugars, & phosphoric acid. Nucleosides & nucleotides. Formation of NAs & their back bone. Different ways of representing DNA & RNA molecules. Physico-chemical properties of NAs. Their stability in acidic & basic solutions. Isolation, purification & identification, buoyant density, sedimentation coefficient, & Svedberg constant of NAs. De-novo biosynthesis of NAs. DNA & the Watson-Crick model & its features. DNA as  the bearer of genetic information. Central dogma of molecular genetics & the processes defined in the same. Replication of DNA. Different types of RNAs with their special  features & functions. Minor or rare bases. Transcription & translation. Different post translational modifications of proteins. Triplet codon & the codon dictionary.

Mutations. An introduction to different types of mutations. Their nature & repair.

• Hereditary Diseases

Eliptocytosis, spherocytosis, HNPCC, diabetes insipidus.