Clinical efficacy of a new AT₁ blocker

Abstract

The main goal of the treatment of hypertension is to decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Since this has been demonstrated for betablocker and diuretics only, other antihypertensive agents should be recommended for initial single-drug therapy only if they demonstrate that their antihypertensive potency, and their tolerability is at least comparable to that of the other established drug classes.

From this latter perspective AT₁ blockers should become one of the most favored anti-hypertensive drugs, since it can be shown that their efficacy is comparable to all other classes of antihypertensive drugs and their tolerability is undoubtedly better.

Candesartan seems to be the most efficient AT₁ blocker with regard to molar potency. Moreover, it has been shown that Candesartan achieves an impressively long duration of action presumably due to its special receptor binding properties with a peak through ratio of more than 0.9. An other advantage of this special AT₁ blocker may be its dose response curve which demonstrates a continuous increase of efficacy between 2 and 16 mg daily.