Paper Contents
Abstract
Cardiotonics are of pivotal importance in the treatment of heart failure through modulation of contractility of the myocardium. These drugs, such as cardiac glycosides (e.g., digoxin), -adrenergic agonists (e.g., dobutamine), and phosphodiesterase inhibitors (e.g., milrinone), increase cardiac output by modulating intracellular calcium handling and myocardial energy metabolism. Appreciation of their dose-dependent effects is important in order to realize optimal therapeutic benefits with reduced side effects, such as arrhythmias and myocardial toxicity.(1)This review deals with the pharmacodynamics of cardiotonics, including their mode of action, receptor interaction, and downstream signaling. It also deals with the methods in isolated heart preparations, i.e., Langendorff and working heart models, which are important to the understanding of drug-induced alterations in myocardial contractility. Further, it deals with the important observations regarding their dose-dependent effects on myocardial contractility, having in view the therapeutic benefit vs. toxicity ratio.(2)Particular emphasis is placed on comparative investigation of various cardiotonic agents, the contribution of genetic heterogeneity to drug efficacy, and new principles to increase the safety and effectiveness of the drugs in the clinic. New directions for new cardiotonic agents and their therapeutic application in heart failure are also addressed.
Copyright
Copyright © 2025 Miss.Vrushali Suhas Khandekar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
