Question

The sympathetic nervous system uses epinephrine, or adrenaline, as a neurotransmitter and a hormone to exert its effects. These effects are often described as "fight or flight".

Answer the following prompt: Epi-pens, which contain epinephrine, are used in people who are having severe allergic reactions. Specifically, these are used to improve breathing problems. Why do you think epinephrine helps in this case? What are two other effects an epi-pen may have as a side effect?  Would injecting the epi-pen be more similar to our body using epinephrine as a hormone or a neurotransmitter?Why?

Answer 1

Epipens are used in conditions such as anaphylaxis which is worsened breathing difficulty caused due to excessive release of histamines from the body's immune system leading to inflammations particularly in airway passage. Epinephrine has a unique property to constrict blood vessels. When this happens, then the blood pressure is seen to rise leading to a decrease in the inflammation. Once airway inflammation decreases, breathing difficulty is seen to come down thereby clearing the respiratory passage and breathing problem. Tachycardia and hypertension are the two effects that happen due to their mechanism of increasing blood pressure as a side effect.

No, injecting and body secretion is completely different. Body glands will not produce the amount of epinephrine which is administered via injection or EpiPens shot. This is because the body will consider the allergic reaction as a normal body response and will not trigger the production of epinephrine. If adrenal glans was designed in such a manner that an allergic signal in the body could be sensed followed by tremendous release of epinephrine as in the case of a fight or flight, it would have similar or better effect than the man made epinephrine. However, this feedback mechanism to allergic reactions for adrenal gland is not a designed genetic function and hence cannot be considered.