Medical Definition

CATECHOLAMINE. : any of various amines (as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and

dopamine) that contain a dihydroxy benzene ring, that are derived from tyrosine,
and that function as hormones or neurotransmitters or both.

Prodrug
Drug class
A prodrug is a medication or compound that, after administration, is metabolized
into a pharmacologically active drug. Inactive prodrugs are pharmacologically
inactive medications that are metabolized into an active form within the body.

Sympathomimetic drug
Drug class
Sympathomimetic drugs are stimulant compounds which mimic the effects of
neurotransmitter substances of the sympathetic nervous system such as
catecholamines, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, etc

Amines (US: /minz/ or /minz/, UK: /minz/, /mnz/ or /eminz/) are organic
compounds and functional groups that contain a basic nitrogen atom with a lone
pair. Amines are derivatives of ammonia, wherein one or more hydrogen atoms
have been replaced by a substituent such as an alkyl or aryl group.

norepinephrine - As a stress hormone , affects parts of the brain where

attention and responding actions are controlled.

Monoamines refer to the particular neurotransmitters dopamine, noradrenaline

and serotonin. Dopamine and noradrenaline are sometimes also referred to as
catecholamines.

Pharmacokinetics is currently defined as the study of the time course of drug

absorption, distribution, metabo- lism, and excretion. Clinical pharmacokinetics is
the application of pharmacokinetic principles to the safe and effective therapeutic
management of drugs in an individual patient.