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Current issues with β2-adrenoceptor agonists

Historical background

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Abstract

The discovery that dessicated adrenal glands had beneficial effects in asthma arose in 1900 following a vogue for studying organotherapy at the end of the 19th century. The adrenal hormone adrenaline was found to have sympathomimetic properties and was isolated and synthesized in 1901. The first nonselective β-agonist, isoproterenol, was isolated in 1940, followed by the development of selective β2-agonists in the 1960s and the introduction of the long-acting β2-agonists in the 1990s. The introduction of β2-selectivity reduced adverse effects, as did developments in inhaler technology that allowed subjects to inhale much smaller doses of drug selectively to the airways. The β2-agonists are some of the more important drugs to have been developed in the 20th century. Excessive doses can cause problems, and attempts to maximize the benefit from β2-agonists and to reduce adverse effects has led to considerable epidemiological, clinical, and mechanistic research over the last 50 yr.

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  1. Division of Respiratory Medicine, University of Nottingham, Clinical Sciences Building, Nottingham University Hospital, City Hospital Campus, Nottingham, England

    Anne E. Tattersfield

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Tattersfield, A.E. Current issues with β2-adrenoceptor agonists. Clinic Rev Allerg Immunol 31, 107–117 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1385/CRIAI:31:2:107

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