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Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases pp 1–4Cite as

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Theophylline

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Synonyms

Aminophylline; Choline theophyllinate; Dimethylxanthine; Oxtriphylline

Definition

Theophylline is a smooth muscle relaxant and weak diuretic with central nervous system and cardiac stimulatory effects.

Chemical Structures and Properties

Theophylline is dimethylxanthine which is closely related chemically to caffeine (Fig. 1). Like caffeine, theophylline is sparingly soluble in water (7 g/l). The logP value of theophylline is –0.02 giving the unionized form sufficient lipid solubility to diffuse passively through cell membranes. Theophylline is a weak acid (pKa 8.8). Consequently, both the unionized and ionized forms are present in plasma with the majority as the ionized species.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Structures of theophylline and caffeine

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatric Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Bernadette Prentice

  2. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Sydney Children’s Hospital and School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Adam Jaffe

  3. Inflammation and Infection Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Paul S. Thomas

  4. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Paul S. Thomas

Authors
  1. Bernadette Prentice
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  2. Adam Jaffe
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  3. Paul S. Thomas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernadette Prentice .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst of Clinical Pharmacology Haus 74/75, JW Goethe University Frankfurt Fraunhofer IME, Frankfurt, Germany

    Michael Parnham

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© 2014 © Crown Copyright

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Prentice, B., Jaffe, A., Thomas, P.S. (2014). Theophylline. In: Parnham, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0620-6_53-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0620-6_53-1

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  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-0620-6

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