Review Article
Pharmacotherapy of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Clinical Review
Table 1
Mode of administration, chemical structure, lipophilicity (
), and half time (
) of
-receptor agonists.
| Compound | Mode of administration | Chemical structure | | |
| Salbutamol | Inhalation (MDI, DPI, and solution), oral, and intravenous | | 1.4 | 1.6 hours | Terbutaline | Inhalation (DPI), oral | | 1.4 | 5.5–5.9 hours | Fenoterol | Inhalation (MDI, solution), oral | | 1.36 | 45 min | Salmeterol | Inhalation (MDI, DPI) | | 4.2 | 5.5 hours | Formoterol | Inhalation (MDI, DPI, and solution) | | 2.2 | 10 hours | Indacaterol | Inhalation (DPI) | | 3.9 | 40–60 hours | Arformoterol (R,R)-enantiomer of formoterol | Inhalation (solution) | | 2.2 | 26 hours | Carmoterol | Inhalation (MDI, DPI) | | NA | 48 hours | Levalbuterol (R,R)-enantiomer of salbutamol | Inhalation (MDI, solution) | | 1.4 | 1.6 hours | Vilanterol | Inhalation (MDI, DPI) | | 3.8 | NA |
|
|
MDI: metered-dose inhaler, DPI: dry power inhaler.
|