Antimuscarinic drugs: Traditional and potential new therapeutic agents

Antimuscarinic drugs, used for centuries by physicians and credited in modern times with several therapeutic virtues, have been losing ground in recent years to other pharmacological classes, mainly because of their poor specificity and consequent repercussions throughout the parasympathetic system. Recent pharmacological data suggest the hypothesis of subclasses of muscarinic receptors. This in turn opens up the possibility of more specific antimuscarinic drugs fashioned for these subclasses. This review is not an attempt to cover all pharmacological aspects of the muscarinic receptor; rather, it is intended to serve as a practical contribution, on the part of industrial reserchers, by suggesting new therapeutic potentialities in some specific areas.