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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Glucagon for Beta Blocker Overdose

Here's a great board question that I don't know if its ever been asked, but can you think why you would want to give glucagon for a beta blocker overdose? Hint: It’s all about cAMP

  • Beta blockers at toxic doses would dangerously ↓ HR.
  • The heart has β1 receptors which act through a Gs to raise intracellular cAMP
  • Glucagon, via its own receptor can ↑ cAMP independently of the blocked β1 receptor
    • Also note, that this is an example of physiologic antagonism
    • Giving a β1 agonist to overcome the β-block would be an example of competitive antagonism

Can you say, "Gunner Level?"

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

good one

Anonymous said...

Just had this exact question on a practice test.

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