| Target receptor |
Dobutamine is a racemic mixture of stereoisomers; net effect is a partial alpha-1 agonist effect, a full beta-1 agonist effect, and a weak beta-2 agonist effect |
| Metabolism |
Metabolised rapidly and completely by COMT and MAO |
| Elimination |
Metabolites are renally excreted. Half-life is ~2 minutes |
| Time course of action |
Very short-acting, very rapid onset of effect |
| Mechanism of action |
By binding to the beta-1 receptor, dobutamine causes an increase in intracellular cAMP, which leads to increased calcium availability inside the cardiac myocytes, and therefore increased contractility and pacemaker automaticity |
