Dexmedetomidine

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Dexmedetomidine, sold under the trade name Precedex among others, is an anxiety reducing, sedative, and pain medication. Dexmedetomidine is notable for its ability to provide sedation without risk of respiratory depression (unlike other commonly used drugs such as propofol and fentanyl) and can provide cooperative or semi-rousable sedation.

Similar to clonidine, it is a sympatholytic drug that acts an agonist of α2-adrenergic receptors in certain parts of the brain. Veterinarians use dexmedetomidine for similar purposes in treating cats, dogs, and horses. It was developed by Orion Pharma. Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective α2-adrenergic agonist. Unlike opioids and other sedatives such as propofol, dexmedetomidine is able to achieve its effects without causing respiratory depression.

Dexmedetomidine induces sedation by decreasing activity of noradrenergic neurons in the locus ceruleus in the brain stem, thereby increasing the activity of inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus. In contrast[clarification needed], other sedatives like propofol and benzodiazepines directly increase activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons. Sedation by dexmedetomidine mirrors natural sleep. As such, dexmedetomidine provides less amnesia than benzodiazepines. Dexmedetomidine also has analgesic effects at the spinal cord level and other supraspinal sites. Thus, unlike other hypnotic agents like propofol, dexmedetomidine can be used as an adjunct medication to help decrease the opioid requirements of people in pain while still providing similar analgesia.

Intravenous dexmedetomidine exhibits linear pharmacokinetics with a rapid distribution half-life of approximately 6 minutes in healthy volunteers, and a longer and more variable distribution half-life in ICU patients. The terminal elimination half-life of intravenous dexmedetomidine ranged 2.1-3.1 hours in healthy adults and 2.2-3.7 hours in ICU patients. Plasma protein binding of dexmedetomidine is about 94% (mostly albumin).

Dexmedetomidine is metabolized by the liver, largely by glucuronidation (34%) as well as by oxidation via CYP2A6 and other Cytochrome P450 enzymes. As such, it should be used with caution in people with liver disease. The majority of metabolized dexmedetomidine is excreted in the urine (~95%).

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