In the field of pharmacology, an inverse agonist is an agent that binds to the same receptor as an agonist but induces a pharmacological response opposite to that agonist.
A prerequisite for an inverse agonist response is that the receptor must have a constitutive (also known as intrinsic or basal) level activity in the absence of any ligand. An agonist increases the activity of a receptor above its basal level while an inverse agonist decreases the activity below the basal level. A neutral antagonist has no activity in the absence of an agonist or inverse agonist but can block the activity of either.
The efficacy of a full agonist is by definition 100%, a neutral antagonist has 0%, while an inverse agonist has < 0% (i.e., negative) efficacy.
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Famous quotes containing the word inverse:
“The quality of moral behaviour varies in inverse ratio to the number of human beings involved.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)