Search This Blog

Monday, July 2, 2012

New beta-adrenergic drug

The FDA just approved a new drug, Mirabegron, for the treatment of overactive bladder: This drug is a selective beta-3 agonist, and it looks like these receptors are prominent in the bladder and cause relaxation when stimulated. So, maybe we have to add this to the list of items to cover in my ANS lectures. To date I have not talked about beta-3 recptors. They are present in brown fat cells that is very rich in mitochondria and contribute to heat generation in the body (such as in babies), and it is now news to me that they are also in other parts of the body and can be "exploited" now in this scenario of bladder related dysfunction. The classical treatment of overactive bladder is with anticholinergic drugs, as you may recall.
What adverse effects would you expect with this new drug mirabegron?? Make a comment below!