The effects of antihypertensive drugs on arterial stiffness☆
This article was presented as lecture in the symposium on “Arterial stiffness: a translational approach” at the ARTERY 14 Congress in Maastricht, The Netherlands (October 9–11, 2014).
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.artres.2016.02.001How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- Pulse wave velocity; Arterial stiffness; Augmentation index; Target organ damage; Hypertension guidelines; Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor; Calcium channel blocker
- Abstract
Ageing and cardiovascular risk factors, particularly uncontrolled hypertension, adversely impact arterial stiffness and wave reflection leading to increased central systolic blood pressure. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity is the “gold standard” method for the assessment of aortic stiffness. Increased pulse wave velocity has been independently associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Thus, current European hypertension guidelines acknowledge the reproducibility, predictive value, and cost-effectiveness of pulse wave velocity.
Augmentation index, a marker of arterial stiffness and wave reflection has been also associated with poor cardiovascular outcome.
Current evidence suggests that increased arterial stiffness and wave reflection contribute to target organ damage. Thus, early intervention is fundamental for cardiovascular prevention. Elevated pulse wave velocity and augmentation index can be reduced by normalizing blood pressure and by using specific treatments for reducing arterial stiffness.
This article will review the available evidence on the effect of the different antihypertensive drug classes on arterial stiffness. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers can reduce pulse wave velocity beyond the blood pressure lowering effect. Although blood pressure normalization is the most effective therapeutic tool for reducing parameters of wave reflections, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and calcium channel blockers have beneficial effects on augmentation index.
- Copyright
- © 2016 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license.
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TY - JOUR AU - Lorenzo Ghiadoni PY - 2016 DA - 2016/02/19 TI - The effects of antihypertensive drugs on arterial stiffness☆ JO - Artery Research SP - 1 EP - 5 VL - 14 IS - C SN - 1876-4401 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.artres.2016.02.001 DO - 10.1016/j.artres.2016.02.001 ID - Ghiadoni2016 ER -