Agonist drugs in high continuous doses causes:
Ans: a (Down regulation of receptors) Ref: Tripath 6th ed, p. 50Continuous receptor stimulation causes desensitization or refractoriness, the receptor becomes less sensitive to the agonist,e.g. bronchial asthma patients continously treated with beta-receptor agonists. This occurs by two mechanisms:1) Masking or internalization of the receptor2) Decreased synthesis/increased destruction of the receptor(Down regulation)
Down regulation of receptors
Up regulation of receptors
Depends on dose
None
General Pharmacology