Anticholinergic

For cholinergic blocking drugs, see Cholinergic blocking drugs.
Not to be confused with Anti-cholinesterase.

Anticholinergics (anticholinergic agents) are substances that block the action of the acetylcholine (ACh) neurotransmitter at synapses in the central and peripheral nervous system.[1][2]

These agents inhibit the parasympathetic nervous system by selectively blocking the binding of ACh to its receptor in nerve cells. The nerve fibers of the parasympathetic system are responsible for the involuntary movement of smooth muscles present in the gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, lungs, sweat glands, and many other parts of the body.[3]

In broad terms, anticholinergics are divided into two categories in accordance with their specific targets in the central and peripheral nervous system and at the neuromuscular junction:[3] antimuscarinic agents and antinicotinic agents (ganglionic blockers, neuromuscular blockers).[4]

The term "anticholinergic" is typically used to refer to antimuscarinics which competitively inhibit the binding of ACh to muscarinic acetylcholine receptors; such agents do not antagonize the binding at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction, although the term is sometimes used to refer to agents which do so.[3][5]

  1. ^ "Anticholinergics", Anticholinergic Agents, Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2012, PMID 31643610, retrieved 2020-03-23, Anticholinergics have antisecretory activities and decrease nasal and bronchial secretions, salivation, lacrimation, sweating and gastric acid production, and can be used to decrease secretions in allergic and inflammatory diseases. Anticholinergics relax smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract, bladder and lung and can be used for gastrointestinal, urological or respiratory conditions associated with spasm and dysmotility.
  2. ^ Clinical Pharmacology [database online]. Tampa, FL: Gold Standard, Inc.; 2009. Drugs with Anticholinergic Activity. Prescriber's Letter 2011; 18 (12):271233.
  3. ^ a b c Migirov, A; Datta, AR (2020), "article-17683", Physiology, Anticholinergic Reaction, This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, a link is provided to the Creative Commons license, and any changes made are indicated., Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID 31536197, retrieved 2020-03-24
  4. ^ Sharee A. Wiggins; Tomas Griebling. "Urinary Incontinence". Landon Center on Aging. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  5. ^ Su, Mark; Goldman, Matthew. Traub, Stephen J.; Burns, Michele M.; Grayzel, Jonathan (eds.). "Anticholinergic poisoning". UpToDate. Retrieved 2020-03-24.