Temple researchers identify novel mechanism underlying efficacy of common heart failure drug

(Temple University Health System) Beta-blocker drugs serve a key role in the treatment of heart failure, preventing bombardment of the heart by catecholamines -- substances like epinephrine and norepinephrine -- which overexcite and stress the heart. But not all HF patients respond to beta-blockers, for reasons that are unclear. Now, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University show that dysfunction of beta-adrenergic receptor 3 (β3AR) and consequent decreases in a crit...