cholinergic drug

cholinergic drug, any of various drugs that inhibit, enhance, or mimic the action of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, the primary transmitter of nerve impulses within the parasympathetic nervous system—i.e., that part of the autonomic nervous system that contracts smooth muscles, dilates blood vessels, increases bodily secretions, and slows the heart rate.

Acetylcholine release by nerve impulses can be blocked by botulinum toxin, a very potent chemical that is produced in food contaminated by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and is an occasional cause of severe food poisoning (botulism). The most serious effect is paralysis of the skeletal muscle. However, when botulinum toxin is locally injected, it can be used to treat severe muscle spasm or severe, uncontrollable sweating. Under such trade names as Botox, it is also used for cosmetic purposes; botulinum toxin injected locally will paralyze muscles of the face, thus relaxing the skin and reducing wrinkles.

Many drugs interact with acetylcholine receptors. Acetylcholine itself produces extremely short-lived effects because it is destroyed rapidly in the blood. One acetylcholine-like drug that is employed therapeutically is pilocarpine, a selective muscarinic-receptor agonist that is used in eyedrops to constrict the pupil and to decrease the intraocular pressure that is raised in the disease glaucoma.

Antagonists acting on muscarinic receptors include such drugs as atropine and scopolamine. These drugs suppress all the actions of the parasympathetic system, which results in drying up of the secretions of the body (e.g., saliva, tears, sweat, bronchial secretions, and gastrointestinal secretions); relaxation of the smooth muscle in the intestine, bronchi, and urinary bladder; an increase in the heart rate; dilation of the pupils; and paralysis of ocular focusing. These drugs are widely used to dry up secretions and dilate the bronchi during anesthesia and to dilate the pupils during ophthalmological procedures. Scopolamine is also used to treat motion sickness, an effect that depends on its ability to depress the activity of the central nervous system.

Nicotine, the principal addictive ingredient in the tobacco used in cigarettes and cigars, exerts its actions at a subset of cholinergic receptors known as nicotinic receptors. Agents that block these receptors, so-called nicotinic-receptor antagonists, are divided into those that act mainly on skeletal muscle and those that act on ganglia cells. The latter group includes hexamethonium and trimethaphan. These drugs cause overall paralysis of the autonomic nervous system because they do not distinguish between sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia and therefore are not specific in their action. They were the first effective agents to reduce high blood pressure (antihypertensive drugs), but they have many troublesome side effects associated with paralysis of the autonomic nervous system (e.g., blurred vision, constipation, impotence, inability to urinate). They have been replaced by more selective drugs. The nicotinic-receptor antagonists that act at the neuromuscular junction are used during surgical procedures to produce muscle relaxation.

Acetylcholine is inactivated by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is located at cholinergic synapses and breaks down the acetylcholine molecule into choline and acetate. One group of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (anticholinesterase drugs) is used to treat myasthenia gravis, a disorder characterized by muscle weakness. Neostigmine and pyridostigmine are drugs that can access the neuromuscular junction, but they cannot enter the ganglia of the autonomic nervous system and thus do not cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, these agents prolong the action of acetylcholine specifically at the neuromuscular junction.