Skip to main content
. 2008 May 26;154(3):584–597. doi: 10.1038/bjp.2008.164

Table 1.

Distribution and function of β-AR subtypes

Tissue or organ with parameter measured β1 β2 β3
Cardiac—rate, force (Kaumann, 1989) Increase Increase  
Cardiac—lusitropic (Kaumann et al., 1999) Increase Increase  
Lung—bronchi tone (Barnes et al., 1983)   Dilate  
Lung—parenchyma tone (Bertram et al., 1983) Relax Relax  
Lung—mediator release (Undem and Buckner, 1984)   Decrease  
Lung—surfactant production/mucus secretion (Warburton et al., 1987)   Increase  
Small coronary arteries—tone (Vatner et al., 1986)   Dilate  
Large coronary arteries—tone (Purdy et al., 1988) Dilate    
Skeletal muscle blood vessels—tone (Bowman and Anden, 1981)   Dilate  
Saphenous vein—tone (Ikezono et al., 1987)   Dilate  
Cerebral arteries—tone (Edvinsson and Owman, 1974) Dilate Dilate  
Sympathetic neurotransmission—activity (Majewski, 1983)   Facilitate  
Parasympathetic neurotransmission—activity (Vermeire and Vanhoutte, 1979) Inhibit    
CNS—blood pressure, heart rate (Day and Roach, 1974)   Increase  
CNS—inhibitory synaptic transmission (Waterhouse et al., 1982) Facilitate    
CNS—clonidine withdrawal (Jonkman et al., 1984, 1998)   Attenuate  
CNS—appetite (Tsujii and Bray, 1992)     Inhibit
CNS—memory (Gibbs and Summers, 2002)   Facilitate Facilitate
GI tract—gastric, fundus—tone (McLaughlin and MacDonald, 1991)     Relax
GI tract—ileum, colon—tone (Roberts et al., 1995; De Ponti et al., 1996)     Relax
GI tract—gastric acid (Stevens et al., 1986; Canfield and Paraskeva, 1992b)   Suppress Secrete
GI tract—caecum bicarbonate (Canfield and Abdul-Ghaffar, 1992a)     Secrete
GI tract—pancreas exocrine (Chariot et al., 1988)   Secrete  
Genitourinary tract—uterus—tone (Krstew et al., 1982)   Relax Relax
Genitourinary tract—vas deferens—tone (Kenakin, 1982)   Relax  
Genitourinary tract—costo-uterine muscle—tone (Hartley and Pennefather, 1985)   Relax  
Genitourinary tract—bladder detrusor—tone (Oshita et al., 1997)   Relax Relax
Genitourinary tract—corpus cavernosum—tone (Hedlund and Andersson, 1985) Relax Relax  
Kidney—renin release (Buhler et al., 1975) Increase    
Eye—aqueous humor formation (Nathanson, 1980)   Increase  
Eye—aqueous humor outflow (Potter, 1981) Decrease    
Eye—ciliary muscle (Rang et al., 2003)   Relax  
Skeletal muscle tremor (Bowman and Anden, 1981)   Increase  
Skeletal muscle—growth, glycogenolysis, speed of contraction (Bowman and Anden, 1981; Rothwell and Stock, 1987)   Increase  
White adipose tissue—lipolysis (Lafontan et al., 1983) Increase Increase Increase
Brown adipose tissue—thermogenesis (Nedergaard et al., 2007)     Increase
Pancreas—glucagon, insulin secretion (Mariani et al., 1971; Schuit and Pipeleers, 1985)   Increase  
Liver—glycogenolysis (Kennedy and Ellis, 1969)   Increase  

Abbreviations: β-AR, β-adrenoceptor; CNS, central nervous system; GI, gastrointestinal.