Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0020538 (hypertension)
170,190 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In autumn 1999 results of two well-controlled studies were published that are consistent with a frequent association between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and coronary heart disease (CHD). Concerning the therapy of CHD, attention is mainly focused on new thrombolytic agents, bypass grafting (CABG) and balloon angioplasty (PTCA). In patients with intractable angina where aggressive medical therapy was exhausted and who were no longer candidates for CABG or PTCA, transmural laser revascularisation (TMLR), enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) and spinal cord stimulation can be considered. TMLR was shown to improve symptoms but not myocardial perfusion; the preoperative mortality accounts for 10-20%. In hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, alcohol-induced transmural septal myocardial ablation (PTSMA) reduces both the symptoms and the left ventricular outflow tract gradient. Although the prevalence of hypertension emergencies has dramatically diminished, the number of hypertensive patients with heart failure and end-stage renal disease is increasing. It is important to detect and treat mild hypertensives in early stages, especially diabetics and younger women with additional risk factors and/or proteinuria. The choice and dosage of drugs is to be individualised. In chronic heart failure (CHF), the protective effect of ACE inhibitors, metoprolol and carvedilol has been repeatedly shown in CHF stage NYHA II and III. The merit of ACE inhibitor and beta-blockers in high doses remains questionable in old patients and those with severe CHF (NYHA IV). In the latter indication, spirolactone was successfully reintroduced. Eplerenone (epoxymexrenone) is a new aldosterone antagonist with little affinity to other steroid receptors and has therefore less undesirable effects than spirolactone. The body of knowledge in therapeutic and technical progress in medicine of the 20th century are summarised and their positive and negative consequences briefly discussed.
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PMID:[Cardiology at the end of the 20th century]. 1104 3

Eplerenone, an aldosterone receptor antagonist from Searle is being developed as a potential treatment for renal disease, congestive heart failure and hypertension. It is in phase III clinical trials 1312280], [353548]. Monsanto (now Pharmacia) expects to launch the compound in 2002 [370466]. Pharmacia anticipates filing for congestive heart failure in 2002 [374505]. A global phase III survival trial was initiated in the US and approximately 30 other countries in January 2000. The trial will evaluate whether eplerenone can reduce the rate of mortality in patients who have recently had a heart attack that resulted in a diagnosis of heart failure 13535481.
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PMID:Eplerenone (GD Searle & Co). 1156 10

Aldosterone, the final product of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), is a mineralocorticoid hormone that classically acts, via the mineralocorticoid (aldosterone) receptor, on epithelia of the kidneys, colon, and sweat glands to maintain electrolyte homeostasis. Aldosterone has also been shown to act at nonepithelial sites where it can contribute to cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, stroke, malignant nephrosclerosis, cardiac fibrosis, ventricular hypertrophy, and myocardial necrosis. Although angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin type 1 (AT(1)) receptor antagonists act to suppress the RAAS, these agents do not adequately control plasma aldosterone levels--a phenomenon termed "aldosterone synthesis escape." Spironolactone, a nonselective aldosterone receptor antagonist, is an effective agent to suppress the actions of aldosterone; its use is, however, associated with progestational and antiandrogenic side effects due to its promiscuous binding to other steroid receptors. For these reasons, eplerenone--the first agent of a new class of drugs known as the selective aldosterone receptor antagonists (SARAs)--is under development. In rodent models, eplerenone provides marked protection against vascular injury in the kidney and heart. In phase II clinical trials, eplerenone demonstrates 24-h control of blood pressure with once or twice daily dosing, and is safe and well tolerated in patients with heart failure when given with standard of care agents. Pharmacokinetic studies reveal that eplerenone has good bioavailability with low protein binding, good plasma exposure, and is highly metabolized to inactive metabolites and excreted principally in the bile. Eplerenone is well tolerated in acute and chronic safety pharmacology studies. Ongoing phase III trials of eplerenone in the treatment of hypertension and heart failure are underway. These studies will extend our understanding of selective aldosterone receptor antagonism in the treatment of chronic cardiovascular disease.
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PMID:Eplerenone: a selective aldosterone receptor antagonist (SARA). 1160 37

To determine the extent to which dietary sodium modulates aldosterone-induced cardiovascular damage, and to determine whether increased dietary potassium can prevent this damage, we used the Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)/angiotensin II (Ang II) rat model of cardiac injury. This model is dependent on the presence of aldosterone for the occurrence of myocardial damage. Two sets of experiments were performed. In the first set, the following groups were studied: (1) 1% NaCl to drink (control group); (2) L-NAME/Ang II with water to drink (low salt group); (3) L-NAME/Ang II/1% NaCl (high salt group); (4) L-NAME/Ang II/1% NaCl/eplerenone (eplerenone group). Systolic blood pressure increased similarly in all groups compared with controls. Compared with the controls, the high salt group, but not the low salt or eplerenone groups, developed significant myocardial damage. In the second set of experiments three groups of animals were studied: (1) L-NAME/Ang II/1%NaCl (high salt group) (2) L-NAME/Ang II/1%NaCl/eplerenone (eplerenone group), and (3) L-NAME/Ang II/1%NaCl with an extra 1% KCl in food (high dietary potassium group). Eplerenone, but not dietary potassium supplementation, prevented the development of cardiac damage. Thus, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist treatment and low sodium diet were effective in preventing cardiac damage, which suggests that a minimal level of aldosterone and a moderately high sodium diet are both required for the development of the cardiovascular damage in the L-NAME/Ang II model. The inability of potassium supplementation to reduce myocardial damage suggests that eplerenone's protective effect is not due to its potassium-sparing ability, but is rather related to some other feature of its selective aldosterone antagonism.
Hypertension 2002 Feb
PMID:Cardiac damage prevention by eplerenone: comparison with low sodium diet or potassium loading. 1188 18

Vascular inflammation was examined as a potential mechanism of aldosterone-mediated myocardial injury in uninephrectomized rats receiving 1% NaCl-0.3% KCl to drink for 1, 2, or 4 wk and 1) vehicle, 2) aldosterone infusion (0.75 microg/h), or 3) aldosterone infusion (0.75 microg/h) plus the selective aldosterone blocker eplerenone (100 mg. kg(-1). day(-1)). Aldosterone induced severe hypertension at 4 wk [systolic blood pressure (SBP), 210 +/- 3 mmHg vs. vehicle, 131 +/- 2 mmHg, P < 0.001], which was partially attenuated by eplerenone (SBP, 180 +/- 7 mmHg; P < 0.001 vs. aldosterone alone and vehicle). No significant increases in myocardial interstitial collagen fraction or hydroxyproline concentration were detected throughout the study. However, histopathological analysis of the heart revealed severe coronary inflammatory lesions, which were characterized by monocyte/macrophage infiltration and resulted in focal ischemic and necrotic changes. The histological evidence of coronary lesions was preceded by and associated with the elevation of cyclooxygenase-2 (up to approximately 4-fold), macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (up to approximately 4-fold), and osteopontin (up to approximately 13-fold) mRNA expression. Eplerenone attenuated proinflammatory molecule expression in the rat heart and subsequent vascular and myocardial damage. Thus aldosterone and salt treatment in uninephrectomized rats led to severe hypertension and the development of a vascular inflammatory phenotype in the heart, which may represent one mechanism by which aldosterone contributes to myocardial disease.
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PMID:Aldosterone induces a vascular inflammatory phenotype in the rat heart. 1293 35

Eplerenone is a new aldosterone receptor antagonist that will be used in the treatment of hypertension. Like spironolactone, it is a compound that can be associated with the development of hyperkalemia. Therefore, the same prescription considerations that are applied to spironolactone should be directed to its use. Unfortunately, the label for eplerenone will place more stringent restrictions on its use than is the case for spironolactone. The basis for the multiple contraindications to the use of eplerenone is primarily that of concern for the development of hyperkalemia. This may occur with eplerenone, as has been the case with spironolactone. The presumption in the prescribing information that certain patient subsets, such as diabetics with microalbuminuria and/or patients with mild renal failure, would be highly prone to developing clinically relevant hyperkalemia with eplerenone is not, however, grounded in fact. The favorable experience with spironolactone is important. It should provide us with the landmarks for advancing knowledge on the role of newer aldosterone receptor antagonists in disease state management and one would think, help in establishing criteria for the safe use of new compounds. New compounds in a drug class typically provide advantages over earlier entries into a drug class but not if regressive labeling has occurred. Time and additional clinical experience with eplerenone will establish its safety profile and determine if the original label for this compound was correct.
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PMID:Eplerenone: a new aldosterone receptor antagonist--are the FDAs restrictions appropriate? 1246 13

Despite the development of hypertension treatment guidelines, blood pressure control in the general population remains inadequate, indicating the need for ongoing re-evaluation of treatment strategies to further improve blood pressure control. Hypertension results from alterations in cardiac output and/or peripheral resistance. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system may be responsible, at least in part, for these alterations. Despite pharmacologic intervention with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin type-1 receptor antagonists, aldosterone continues to be produced. Therapeutic modalities for treating hypertension directed toward antagonizing aldosterone might more effectively control blood pressure. Eplerenone, a new selective aldosterone receptor antagonist, recently received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hypertension, either alone or in combination with other antihypertensive agents. The objective of this review is to summarize the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, emphasizing the role for aldosterone antagonism in the management of hypertension, with a focus on eplerenone.
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PMID:Aldosterone receptor antagonists: focus on eplerenone. 1262 73

Eplerenone is a highly selective aldosterone blocker, which is under development for the treatment of hypertension and heart failure. To assess its usefulness in older patients with systolic hypertension and widened pulse pressure, we compared the effects of eplerenone with amlodipine, on clinic blood pressure (BP) and pulse pressure and in a subset of the patients, ambulatory BP, vascular compliance, and urinary albumin excretion. The study involved 269 patients > or =50 years of age who were randomly assigned to either eplerenone (50 to 200 mg daily) or amlodipine (2.5 to 10 mg daily) in a double-blind titration to effect design. After 24 weeks of therapy, reductions in clinic systolic BP were similar for both treatments (eplerenone, -20.5+/-1.1 mm Hg; amlodipine, -20.1+/-1.1 mm Hg). Reductions in clinic diastolic BP were modestly larger on amlodipine (-6.9+/-0.7 mm Hg) compared with eplerenone (-4.5+/-0.7 mm Hg) (P=0.014). Pulse pressure was also reduced similarly from baseline by the 2 treatment groups (eplerenone, -15.9 mm Hg versus amlodipine, -13.4 mm Hg, P=0.07). Changes from baseline in pulse wave velocity after 24 weeks of therapy were statistically similar for eplerenone and amlodipine. In patients with microalbuminuria at baseline (>30 mg albumin/g creatinine), eplerenone reduced the urinary albumin/creatinine ratio by 52% compared with a reduction of 10% by amlodipine (P=0.04). Thus, eplerenone was as effective as amlodipine in lowering systolic BP and pulse pressure as well as pulse wave velocity in older patients with widened pulse pressure hypertension. Furthermore, eplerenone reduced microalbuminuria to a greater extent than amlodipine in this older patient group.
Hypertension 2003 May
PMID:Effects of the selective aldosterone blocker eplerenone versus the calcium antagonist amlodipine in systolic hypertension. 1475 24

Aldosterone has long been known to mediate water and electrolyte balance by acting on mineralocorticoid receptors in the kidneys. However, recent studies have demonstrated the presence of these receptors in nonclassical locations, including the brain, blood vessels, and the heart. This finding suggests that aldosterone may play a larger role than once appreciated in normal physiologic function and cardiovascular disease. Some of the adverse cardiovascular effects that have been described include cardiac and vascular fibrosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, congestive heart failure, hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, reduced fibrinolysis, and cardiac arrhythmias. In light of these findings, aldosterone receptor blockers have become increasingly more important. This is especially true considering the fact that traditional therapies, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II-receptor blockers, may not be effective in maintaining long-term suppression of aldosterone. Therefore, a great deal of focus has been placed on spironolactone, which has proven to be an effective, albeit nonselective, aldosterone receptor blocker. The Randomized Aldactone Evaluation Study has shown that spironolactone results in a 30% reduction in mortality among patients with severe congestive heart failure. Other studies have shown spironolactone to lower high blood pressure, improve endothelial dysfunction, reduce left ventricular hypertrophy, and lower the incidence of fatal arrhythmias. However, spironolactone, because of its interaction with other steroid receptors, is not without its limitations, which include gynecomastia, breast tenderness, menstrual irregularities, and impotence. As a result, eplerenone (INSPRA), a selective aldosterone blocker, is currently being investigated for its efficacy and side-effect profile compared with spironolactone. Eplerenone has already been approved for the treatment of systemic hypertension, and several clinical trials are currently underway to identify other therapeutic uses for this agent in cardiovascular disease management.
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PMID:Aldosterone and aldosterone antagonism in cardiovascular disease: focus on eplerenone (Inspra). 1271 74

Eplerenone is a highly selective aldosterone blocking agent, which was recently approved for the treatment of hypertension and has also been shown to reduce mortality in post-myocardial infarction patients with heart failure. To assess its usefulness in patients with essential hypertension, we performed a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm, fixed-dose study over a range of doses using clinic and ambulatory blood pressure (BP). After single-blind placebo therapy for 3 to 4 weeks to obtain baseline measures, 400 patients were randomized to receive placebo or 1 of 4 doses of eplerenone (25, 50, 100, and 200 mg once daily). In addition, changes from baseline in serum potassium, active renin activity, and serum aldosterone were assessed. After 12 weeks of therapy, reductions in clinic BP showed a significant dose response in which 25 mg of eplerenone achieved statistical significance compared with placebo for systolic BP; maximum clinic BP reduction was achieved with the 100 mg dose. Ambulatory BP monitoring showed that all doses of eplerenone (25 to 200 mg/day) lowered BP significantly greater than placebo with a significant dose response. The 24-hour mean BP reductions ranged from 6.4/4.4 to 10.3/5.7 mm Hg on eplerenone compared with 1.3/0.8 mm Hg on placebo. One patient on placebo and 1 patient on 200 mg of eplerenone had episodes of elevated serum potassium levels (>5.5 mEq/L). Increases in serum aldosterone were related to dose but not to reductions in 24-hour BP. Side effects and withdrawal rates attributed to eplerenone were similar to those of placebo. These data show that eplerenone is an effective antihypertensive agent at doses as low as 25 mg/day. The top effective dose in stage 1 to 3 hypertension based on clinic and ambulatory BP was 100 mg once daily. The incidence of elevated serum potassium levels was not increased across doses of eplerenone in this study.
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PMID:Assessment of the novel selective aldosterone blocker eplerenone using ambulatory and clinical blood pressure in patients with systemic hypertension. 1284 42


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