Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of aliskiren, an oral direct renin inhibitor.
Journal Title: Pharmacological Reports - Year 2008, Vol 60, Issue 5
Abstract
Intensive efforts have been spent to discover therapeutic, non-peptide and orally effective hypertensive drugs. One drug that emerged from this effort is aliskiren, a direct human renin inhibitor that blocks the conversion of angiotensinogen to angiotensin I (Ang I). In contrast to other antihypertensive agents, aliskiren decreases plasma renin activity (PRA). In healthy human subjects, doses of between 40 and 640 mg of aliskiren exert a dose-dependent reduction in PRA and Ang I and Ang II levels. The bioavailability of aliskiren is low (2%), peak plasma concentrations are reached within one to three hours and the binding with plasma proteins achieves approximately 47-51%. Aliskiren is slightly metabolized (20%) by CYP3A4. The most common adverse events include diarrhea, headache, back pain and gastrointestinal disorders. Aliskiren is well tolerated, and may be used alone or in combination with other antihypertensive agents. Aliskiren belongs to a new class of agents that effectively and specifically inhibit the RAS. This drug functions through a novel mechanism of action and has the potential to become a true alternative to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers in the therapy of hypertension and other cardiovascular and renal disorders.
Authors and Affiliations
Włodzimierz Buczko, Justyna Hermanowicz
Role of silent polymorphisms within the dopamine D1 receptor associated with schizophrenia on D1-D2 receptor hetero-dimerization.
Within the coding region of the dopamine D(1) receptor (D(1)R), two synonymous polymorphisms, D(1)R(G198A) and D(1)R(G1263), have been identified and postulated to correlate with the schizophrenia phenotype. Binding stud...
Impact of ursolic acid on chronic ethanol-induced oxidative stress in the rat heart.
Oxidative stress plays an important role as a mediator of myocardial damage produced by ethanol. This work was designed to investigate the effect of ursolic acid (UA), a reported radical scavenger and antioxidant, on oxi...
Intracerebroventricular administration of riluzole prevents morphine-induced apoptosis in the lumbar region of the rat spinal cord.
Opiates are the most effective drugs for pain relief. However, the repeated use of opiates induces tolerance to their analgesic effects. It has been shown that this morphine-induced tolerance is associated with apoptosis...
Inhibitory effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) and its low-calcemic analogues on staurosporine-induced apoptosis.
The active form of vitamin D(3) and some of its related compounds show neuroprotective effects in various models of neuronal damage, however, mechanism of their anti-apoptotic action has not been elucidated. Therefore, t...
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of propofol in patients undergoing abdominal aortic surgery.
Available propofol pharmacokinetic protocols for target-controlled infusion (TCI) were obtained from healthy individuals. However, the disposition as well as the response to a given drug may be altered in clinical condit...