Azilsartan as a Potent Antihypertensive Drug with Possible Pleiotropic Cardiometabolic Effects: A Review Study
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypertension related cardiovascular (CV) complications could be amplified by the presence of metabolic co-morbidities. Azilsartan medoxomil (AZL-M) is the eighth approved member of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), a drug class of high priority in the management of hypertensive subjects with diabetes mellitus type II (DMII). METHODS: Under this prism, we performed a systematic review of the literature for all relevant articles in order to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and possible clinical role of AZL-M in hypertensive diabetic patients. RESULTS: AZL-M was found to be more effective in terms of reducing indices of blood pressure over alternative ARBs or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors with minimal side effects. Preclinical studies have established pleiotropic effects for AZL-M beyond its primary antihypertensive role through differential gene expression, up-regulation of membrane receptors and favorable effect on selective intracellular biochemical and pro-atherosclerotic pathways. CONCLUSION: Indirect but accumulating evidence from recent literature supports the efficacy and safety of AZL-M among diabetic patients. However, no clinical data exist to date that evince a beneficial role of AZL-M in patients with metabolic disorders on top of its antihypertensive effect. Further clinical studies are warranted to assess the pleiotropic cardiometabolic benefits of AZL-M that are derived from preclinical research.
Date Issued
2016-08-03
Date Acceptance
2016-07-20
Citation
Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2016, 7
ISSN
1663-9812
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Pharmacology
Volume
7
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Georgiopoulos, Katsi, Oikonomou, Vamvakou, Koutli, Laina, Tsioufis, Nihoyannopoulos and Tousoulis. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
License URL
Subjects
azilsartan medoxomil
cardiovascular
diabetes mellitus
hypertension
metabolic
pleiotropic
1115 Pharmacology And Pharmaceutical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
235