Pilocarpine is a medication used to reduce pressure inside the eye and treat dry mouth.[1][4] As an eye drop it is used to manage angle closure glaucoma until surgery can be performed, ocular hypertension, primary open angle glaucoma, and to constrict the pupil after dilation.[1][5][6] However, due to its side effects it is no longer typically used for long-term management.[7] Onset of effects with the drops is typically within an hour and lasts for up to a day.[1] By mouth it is used for dry mouth as a result of Sjögren syndrome or radiation therapy.[8]
Common side effects of the eye drops include irritation of the eye, increased tearing, headache, and blurry vision.[1] Other side effects include allergic reactions and retinal detachment.[1] Use is generally not recommended during pregnancy.[9] Pilocarpine is in the miotics family of medication.[10] It works by activating cholinergic receptors of the muscarinic type which cause the trabecular meshwork to open and the aqueous humor to drain from the eye.[1]
Pilocarpine was isolated in 1874 by Hardy and Gerrard and has been used to treat glaucoma for more than 100 years.[11][12][13] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.[14] It was originally made from the South American plant Pilocarpus.[11]
^ abcdefg"Pilocarpine". The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
^"Vuity- pilocarpine hydrochloride solution/ drops". DailyMed. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
^Gornitsky M, Shenouda G, Sultanem K, Katz H, Hier M, Black M, Velly AM (July 2004). "Double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled study of pilocarpine to salvage salivary gland function during radiotherapy of patients with head and neck cancer". Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontics. 98 (1): 45–52. doi:10.1016/j.tripleo.2004.04.009. PMID 15243470.
^Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia 2019 Deluxe Lab-Coat Edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2018. p. 224. ISBN 9781284167542.
^World Health Organization (2009). Stuart MC, Kouimtzi M, Hill SR (eds.). WHO Model Formulary 2008. World Health Organization. p. 439. hdl:10665/44053. ISBN 9789241547659.
^"Glaucoma and ocular hypertension. NICE guideline 81". National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. November 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2019. Ocular hypertension... alternative options include carbonic anhydrase inhibitors such as brinzolamide or dorzolamide, a topical sympathomimetic such as apraclonidine or brimonidine tartrate, or a topical miotic such as pilocarpine, given either as monotherapy or as combination therapy.
^Lusthaus J, Goldberg I (March 2019). "Current management of glaucoma". The Medical Journal of Australia. 210 (4): 180–187. doi:10.5694/mja2.50020. PMID 30767238. S2CID 73438590. Pilocarpine is no longer routinely used for long term IOP control due to a poor side effect profile
^Hamilton R (2015). Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia 2015 Deluxe Lab-Coat Edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 415. ISBN 9781284057560.
^"Pilocarpine ophthalmic Use During Pregnancy | Drugs.com". www.drugs.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
^British national formulary : BNF 69 (69 ed.). British Medical Association. 2015. p. 769. ISBN 9780857111562.
^ abSneader W (2005). Drug Discovery: A History. John Wiley & Sons. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-471-89979-2. Archived from the original on 2016-12-29.
^Rosin A (1991). "[Pilocarpine. A miotic of choice in the treatment of glaucoma has passed 110 years of use]". Oftalmologia (in Romanian). 35 (1): 53–55. PMID 1811739.
^Holmstedt B, Wassén SH, Schultes RE (January 1979). "Jaborandi: an interdisciplinary appraisal". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 1 (1): 3–21. doi:10.1016/0378-8741(79)90014-x. PMID 397371.
^World Health Organization (2019). World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 21st list 2019. Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/325771. WHO/MVP/EMP/IAU/2019.06. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Pilocarpine is a medication used to reduce pressure inside the eye and treat dry mouth. As an eye drop it is used to manage angle closure glaucoma until...
Adie's pupil is supersensitive to ACh so a muscarinic agonist (e.g. pilocarpine) whose dose would not be able to cause pupillary constriction in a normal...
family Rutaceae, native to northeast Brazil. It is a source of the drug pilocarpine. "Pilocarpus jaborandi Holmes". Plants of the World Online. Board of...
important pharmacologically as a source of the parasympathomimetic alkaloid pilocarpine. Many of the species have the common name jaborandi. The taxonomic name...
alleviating or terminating the symptoms. These include artificial saliva, pilocarpine, zinc supplementation, alterations in drug therapy, and alpha lipoic...
Sweating is induced by pilocarpine iontophoresis. At the test site, an electrode is placed over gauze containing pilocarpine and electrolyte solution...
unpredictable effects. The antidote for belladonna poisoning is physostigmine or pilocarpine, the same as for atropine. The potentially deadly ripe fruit of Atropa...
segmental iris constriction, and sensitivity of pupil to a weak solution of pilocarpine. Oculomotor nerve palsy: Ischemia, intracranial aneurysm, demyelinating...
and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSA) Some MAO inhibitors Pilocarpine eye drops and all other parasympathomimetics In some rare cases, when...
progression of visual field loss. Fotil is a combination drug consisting of: Pilocarpine, a parasympathomimetic Timolol, a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist...
metabolism in marine organisms. One well-known imidazole alkaloid is pilocarpine, which is present in the leaves of Paraguay jaborandi. For instance,...
Brazil. Commercial production of the alkaloid muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine is derived entirely from the leaves of the shrub. Vegetation of Minas...
if a person sees an object of interest.[citation needed] If the drug pilocarpine is administered, the pupils will constrict and accommodation is increased...
autonomic nervous system. Many drugs and other substances (for example pilocarpine and scopolamine) manipulate these two distinct receptors by acting as...
that can cause overproduction of saliva include: aripiprazole clozapine pilocarpine ketamine potassium chlorate risperidone pyridostigmine Substances that...
anaphylaxis. Bronchospasms are a possible side effect of some drugs: pilocarpine, beta blockers (used to treat hypertension), a paradoxical result of...
J, Epstein MS, Le ND, Silverman S (February 2004). "The efficacy of pilocarpine and bethanechol upon saliva production in cancer patients with hyposalivation...
Brazil, and P. pennatifolius from Paraguay) from which the medicine pilocarpine, used to treat glaucoma, is extracted. "Rutaceae Juss., nom. cons". Germplasm...
stimulates secretion by the salivary glands, thereby alleviating dry mouth. Pilocarpine — a similar parasympathomimetic medication for dry mouth (xerostomia)...
Apraclonidine has been compared with other treatments such as brimonidine and pilocarpine in preventing IOP spikes after laser trabeculoplasty. The results did...
anti-inflammatory medication and the application of hot packs. Occasionally pilocarpine can be used to help resolve the swelling. Masseteric hypertrophy (enlargement...
proposed as a potential treatment for schizophrenia. In the form of pilocarpine, muscarinic receptor agonists have been used medically for a short time...
(BAC), but also comes BAC-free. It can also be used in combination with pilocarpine, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors or prostaglandin analogs. A Cochrane review...
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