pyridostigmine

drug

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Last updated

July 13, 2026

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Pyridostigmine is a drug that inhibits the action of cholinesterase. It is taken orally, often in the form of its bromide compound, and is primarily used to treat myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes muscle weakness and fatigue due to a defect in nerve impulse transmission to muscles.12

Pyridostigmine works by enhancing the transmission of nerve impulses at the neuromuscular junction. This drug has also been administered to military personnel as a preventive measure against the effects of nerve gas.31

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cholinergic drug
Neostigmine and pyridostigmine are drugs that can access the neuromuscular junction, but they cannot enter the ganglia of the autonomic nervous system and thus do not cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, these agents prolong the action of acetylcholine specifically at the neuromuscular junction.
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Neostigmine and pyridostigmine are drugs that can access the neuromuscular junction, but they cannot enter the ganglia of the autonomic nervous system and thus do not cross the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, these agents prolong the action of acetylcholine specifically at the neuromuscular junction.
Read More

drug
Drugs that affect skeletal muscle
Neostigmine and pyridostigmine are the drugs most often used, because they appear to have a greater effect on neuromuscular transmission than on other cholinergic synapses, and this produces fewer unwanted side effects. The immune mechanism responsible for the inappropriate production of antibodies against the acetylcholine receptor is…
Read More
Neostigmine and pyridostigmine are the drugs most often used, because they appear to have a greater effect on neuromuscular transmission than on other cholinergic synapses, and this produces fewer unwanted side effects. The immune mechanism responsible for the inappropriate production of antibodies against the acetylcholine receptor is…
Read More