Norepinephrine and Vasopressor

The human body produces norepinephrine, also known as NE or noradrenaline by the adrenal glands. NE functions as both a hormone and a neurotransmitter. Doctors administer it in various forms to treat conditions such as mood disorders and asthma. It can also be used as a vasopressor -- a pharmaceutical that constricts blood vessels.

Vascular Action

• Narrowing blood vessels increases pressure.

  Norepinephrine administered properly acts to constrict arteries with a net effect of increasing vascular pressure. NE works as a vasopressor, raising dangerous low blood pressure (hypotension) in patients, typically in conjunction with treatment to raise blood volume.

Sepsis and SIRS

• Mortality due to sepsis is an increasing problem in hospital systems.

  Hypotension is often a dangerous symptom of Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), a frequently fatal whole-body reaction in which temperature, respiration, heart rate and white blood cell count may rise. SIRS precipitated by infection is called sepsis. When arterial pressure is dangerously low, a doctor may administer norepinephrine.

Dopamine and Norepinephrine

• Doctors often use dopamine in cases of SIRS and sepsis with hypotension. Dopamine increases cardiac index, or the volume of blood leaving the heart, rather than having an effect on the vessel dilation or constriction. Both dopamine and norepinephrine have widespread and incompletely understood effects on systems throughout the body, so doctors must take care to avoid unwanted side effects. For this reason, doctors may use one drug over another to treat hypotension in any given patient, or may use both in concert.