Recent advances in antihypertensive therapy

There are multiple different approaches that have been adopted in the past to cure hypertension. Hypertension is a multifactorial disease frequently associated with other cardiovascular problems. None of the antihypertensive drugs available can cure all cases of hypertension. This situation causes a unique scenario in this area of therapeutic research: less recent approaches, which make use of drugs acting on the adrenergic system, diuretics, calcium antagonists, nitro-vasodilators and so on, have not yet been abandoned, while new compounds are still being developed today. Newly acquired and more detailed knowledge of the renin-angiotensin system, of the role of the endothelium and ionic channels in the homeostasis of blood pressure has opened up new lines of study. There are also a number of experimental compounds targeted for other action mechanisms (phosphodiesterase inhibitors, neuropeptide Y antagonists, ouabain-like factor antagonists), that could also represent innovative approaches to hypertension therapy. Some hints regarding the current developments in the well established and innovative categories of antihypertensives will be given in this review.