New drugs for the treatment of hypertension

Despite the many outstanding favorable results achieved in the treatment of hypertension, several unmet goals of antihypertensive therapy remain, such as better blood pressure control, greater protection against the organ dam age associated with hypertension, better tolerability, and ultimately a mor e effective prevention of cardiovascular disease. These unmet goals are the reasons why new antihypertensive drugs are synthesized and tested in the c linical practice. This paper briefly mentions the goals of new antihypertensive agents and ex amines the main pharmacological and clinical features of new classes of ant ihypertensive drugs, such as angiotensin II receptor blockers, central agen ts, vasopeptidase inhibitors, and endothelin antagonists. The results of ex perimental and clinical studies with these new drugs are reviewed, emphasiz ing some advantages and potential disadvantages of these drugs compared wit h traditional antihypertensive drugs, Curr Opin Cardiol 1999, 14:375-380 (C ) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.