Cholinergic Agents
| Definition: |
Any drug used for its actions on cholinergic systems. Included here are agonists and antagonists, drugs that affect the life cycle of ACETYLCHOLINE, and drugs that affect the survival of cholinergic neurons. The term cholinergic agents is sometimes still used in the narrower sense of MUSCARINIC AGONISTS, although most modern texts discourage that usage. |
| Notes: |
GEN or unspecified; prefer specifics |
| Also Called: |
Cholinomimetics,Muscarinic Agents,Nicotinic Agents |
Cholinergic Agents Categories.
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Cholinergic Agonists - Drugs that bind to and activate cholinergic receptors. |
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Cholinergic Antagonists - Drugs that bind to but do not activate CHOLINERGIC RECEPTORS, thereby blocking the actions of ACETYLCHOLINE or cholinergic agonists. |
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Cholinesterase Inhibitors - Drugs that inhibit cholinesterases. The neurotransmitter ACETYLCHOLINE is rapidly hydrolyzed, and thereby inactivated, by cholinesterases. When cholinesterases are inhibited, the action of endogenously released acetylcholine at cholinergic synapses is potentiated. Cholinesterase inhibitors are widely used clinically for their potentiation of cholinergic inputs to the gastrointestinal tract and urinary bladder, the eye, and skeletal muscles; they are also used for their effects on the heart and the central nervous system. |
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Cholinesterase Reactivators - Drugs used to reverse the inactivation of cholinesterase caused by organophosphates or sulfonates. They are an important component of therapy in agricultural, industrial, and military poisonings by organophosphates and sulfonates. |
Cholinergic Agents Definitions and Terms
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