title: Antihypertensive agents: role of therapeutic drug monitoring.
abstract: Hypertension is a disease more common to advanced societies, possibly due to diet and life style. It is a disease that can be readily controlled, and active efforts to decrease blood pressure correlate with decreased incidence of cardiovascular disease. Important in the armamentarium of the physician dealing with hypertension are a variety of drugs. The common drugs include diuretics (thiazides, loop of Henle diuretics, potassium-sparing diuretics), beta-blockers, alpha-agonists, neuron-blocking drugs, and vasodilators. The role of monitoring the blood concentration of each of these drugs in the interest of enhancing clinical usefulness is reviewed in light of the pharmacology of each drug group. We conclude that clonidine, guanethidine, hydralazine, and prazosin have properties that lend themselves to monitoring. Propranolol, metoprolol, nadolol, and alpha-methyldopa are drugs that have pharmacological properties that complicate monitoring. The drugs reserpine and minoxidil have properties that preclude monitoring, and the diuretics should only be monitored under unusual circumstances.
mesh_terms: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents