Norepinephrine (medication)

Norepinephrine (INN)
Systematic (IUPAC) name
4-[(1R)-2-amino-1-hydroxyethyl]benzene-1,2-diol
Clinical data
Trade names Levarterenol, Levophed, Norepin
AHFS/Drugs.com monograph
Licence data US FDA:link
Pregnancy
category
  • AU: B3
  • US: C (Risk not ruled out)
Legal status
Routes of
administration		 Intravenous
Pharmacokinetic data
Metabolism Hepatic
Excretion Urine (84–96%)
Identifiers
CAS Number 51-41-2 YesY
ATC code C01CA03
PubChem CID 439260
IUPHAR/BPS 505
DrugBank DB00368 YesY
ChemSpider 388394 YesY
UNII X4W3ENH1CV YesY
KEGG D00076 YesY
ChEBI CHEBI:18357 YesY
ChEMBL CHEMBL1437 YesY
Synonyms Noradrenaline
(R)-(–)-Norepinephrine
l-1-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)-2-aminoethanol
Chemical data
Formula C8H11NO3
Molar mass 169.18 g/mol
Physical data
Density 1.397±0.06 g/cm3
Melting point 217 °C (423 °F) (decomposes)
Boiling point 442.6 °C (828.7 °F) ±40.0°C
  (verify)

Norepinephrine, also known as noradrenaline, is a medication used to treat people with very low blood pressure. It is manufactured with the same formulation as the hormone and neurotransmitter norepinephrine. It is given intravenously.

At high doses, and especially when it is combined with other vasopressors, it can lead to limb ischemia and limb death.

Medical uses

Norepinephrine is used mainly as a sympathomimetic drug to treat people in vasodilatory shock states such as septic shock and neurogenic shock, while showing fewer adverse side-effects compared to dopamine treatment.[1]

Mechanism of action

It acts on both α1 and α2 adrenergic receptors to cause blood vessel contraction. Its effects are often limited to the increasing of blood pressure through agonist activity on α1 and α2 receptors, and causing a resultant increase in peripheral vascular resistance.

Names

Norepinephrine is the INN while noradrenaline is the BAN.

References

  1. ↑ De Backer D, Biston P, Devriendt J, Madl C, Chochrad D, Aldecoa C, Brasseur A, Defrance P, Gottignies P, Vincent JL (March 2010). "Comparison of dopamine and norepinephrine in the treatment of shock". The New England Journal of Medicine 362 (9): 779–89. doi:10.1056/nejmoa0907118. PMID 20200382.
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