Epinephrine vs. Adrenaline Both names are widely used, with what appears to me as a slight prevalence of “epinephrine” in scientific literature and an overwhelming prevalence of “adrenaline” in popular media. Are there any well-documented and/or well-motivated guidelines for the usage of these terms?

Apparently I asked too soon. Summarizing my recent findings, I conclude that **adrenaline** is the better term.

To be more explicit, here is why:

* The US National Library of Medicine recommends “epinephrine”, this is however mainly due to historical reasons (adrenaline used to be a trademark name in the USA).
* This quite comprehensive paper on the issue presents a series of arguments for the use of “adrenaline”. These include: Better compatibility with other languages (where epinephrine is not at all in use); Better integration with other biological terms (adrenergic receptors, adrenal gland, adrenectomy, etc.); Better historical accuracy (epinephrine used to be the name for a neurochemically inactive crude extract from the adrenal glands).



I find the arguments of the referenced publication convincing, though I would recomend you read them in full.