Clinical Aspects of β-Blockade

Abstract

β-Blocking drugs have no or only a partial β-agonistic activity (ISA). Since they all bind to β receptors, they act as competitive inhibitors of the endogenous catecholamines. In addition to this common effect, the β-blocking drugs also have other properties that may be clinically important, such as extent of β, selectivity, ISA, and lipophilicity. The importance of these properties in the clinical setting is reviewed.