Milrinone

Heart failure is a condition characterized by the heart's inability to provide adequate perfusion to the peripheral tissues, resulting in systemic symptoms including pulmonary, gastrointestinal, renal, and cerebral dysfunction. Although the biochemical and physiological processes underlying heart failure complex and variable, one such physiological response regulated by the sympathetic nervous system involves the eventual downregulation of cardiac β-receptors, decreased catecholamine sensitivity, and a corresponding decrease in adenylyl-cyclase-mediated signalling pathways. Increased intracellular cAMP, mainly acting through protein kinase A, increases sarcolemmal calcium release through L-type calcium channels as well as calcium re-uptake mediated by phospholamban and troponin I; these actions correspond to positive inotropic and lusitropic effects, respectively.

Milrinone is a partial competitive inhibitor of phosphodiesterase III (PDE-III), with a measured IC50 value of between 0.66 and 1.3 μM. As a PDE-III inhibitor, milrinone results in an increase in intracellular cAMP, responsible for its pharmacological effects, including positive inotropy, positive lusitropy, and vasodilation. As milrinone affects cAMP levels through PDE-III and not through β-adrenergic receptors, it is effective in patients who have downregulated or otherwise desensitized β-adrenergic receptors and can be administered together with β-agonists/antagonists.