Albuterol
Ventolin / ProAirPubChem CID 2083 · 3D model
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Relaxes the tight muscles around the airways so breathing opens back up fast.
How it works
Albuterol locks onto specific receptors on the muscle fibers wrapped around your airways, triggering a chemical signal chain inside those cells. That signal tells the muscle to let go of its calcium grip and loosen up, so the tightened bands of muscle around the airway relax. This widens the airway almost immediately, making it easier to move air in and out. Because the drug mostly targets airway muscle rather than heart muscle, it opens breathing passages without stirring up the heart as much as older inhaler medicines used to.
What it’s used for
Used as a quick-relief inhaler to stop or prevent asthma attacks and sudden breathing flare-ups in people age 4 and up, and to keep airways from tightening up when taken shortly before exercise.
- Mechanism
- Beta-2 adrenergic receptor agonist
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Respiratory