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The Sound of Evolution
Pilocarpine
Mechanism of action:
Pilocarpine is a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor agonist. It primarily activates M₃ muscarinic receptors in the salivary glands, sweat glands, and ocular smooth muscle, thereby increasing exocrine gland secretion, causing contraction of the iris sphincter muscle, and causing contraction of the ciliary muscle.
Reference(s):
1. Wiseman LR et al. (1995). Oral pilocarpine: a review of its pharmacological properties and clinical potential in xerostomia. Drugs.
2. Pronin AN et al. (2017). Teaching an Old Drug New Tricks: Agonism, Antagonism, and Biased Signaling of Pilocarpine through M3 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor. Mol Pharmacol.
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