Expectorant
Expectorant (thins and mobilizes airway secretions)
- ↑ volume and ↓ viscosity of airway secretions → easier clearance by cough
- A named clinical ACTION, not a molecular target
- Guaifenesin’s own mechanism remains unclear — a gastric vagal reflex raising respiratory-tract fluid is the leading proposal, and trial results conflict (Ohar 2019)
- Not mucolytic (mucin disulfide bonds intact)
Drugs with this mechanism (1)
- Guaifenesin — OTC expectorant; NMDA antagonism is incidental to its unclear clinical action.
Self-check
- Do expectorants cleave mucin disulfide bonds?
No; they are not mucolytics. - How certain is guaifenesin’s molecular mechanism?
Unclear; a gastric vagal reflex is the leading proposal, and trials conflict.
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