A review of irbesartan in anti hypertensive therapy: Comparison with otheranti hypertensive agents

Background: Irbesartan, an angiotensin II (AII) receptor antagonist indicat ed for the treatment of hypertension, has been found to be well tolerated a nd effective in reducing blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner. Objective: The purpose of this article was to evaluate the literature on th e efficacy and tolerability of irbesartan versus other agents commonly used in the treatment of hypertension. Methods: A thorough search of databases such as MEDLINE(R)/PubMed((R)) and Dialog was performed, and library resources were used to identify all clini cal trials evaluating irbesartan versus other anti hypertensive agents. Results: In the studies reviewed, irbesartan was found to be as effective i n lowering blood pressure as comparator anti hypertensive drugs belonging t o different classes, including atenolol (beta-blocker), amlodipine (dihydro pyridine calcium channel antagonist), hydrochlorothiazide (thiazide diureti c), and enalapril (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor). In some studie s, irbesartan was associated with a lower incidence of side effects than th e comparator agent. In head-to-head clinical trials, irbesartan also demons trated superior anti hypertensive efficacy versus the All receptor antagoni sts losartan and valsartan. Conclusions: A review of the literature suggests that irbesartan provides a ntihypertensive efficacy that is comparable to or exceeds that of other ant ihypertensive agents while maintaining the good tolerability profile associ ated with the selective All receptor antagonists.