The diversified pharmacology of angiotensin II-receptor blockade.
The discovery of orally active nonpeptide angiotensin II (A II)-receptor antagonists has initiated a growing understanding of the physiologic and pathophysiologic roles of A II. Losartan is the first of the new class of antagonists that block all the well-known effects of A II, including vasoconstriction, aldosterone release, renin release (negative feedback), and the stimulation of thirst. A II-receptor subtypes have been described, with losartan antagonism defining the AT1 subtype and with PD123319 antagonism defining the AT2 subtype. The AT1 receptor is G-protein-coupled, involving PLC, PLA2, PLD, or adenylate cyclase and the release of intracellular calcium. The receptor-response coupling of the AT2 site remains elusive but may involve protein tyrosine phosphatase and subserve an antiproliferative role. Losartan as the prototype of an AT1-selective antagonist: i) inhibits A II binding, ii) antagonizes effects of A II in vivo and in vitro, and iii) lowers blood pressure in models of A II-dependent hypertension A II stimulates growth in vitro (DNA and protein synthesis) and in vivo (cardiac and vascular hypertrophy), and these effects are blocked by losartan. Losartan, like angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, has significant renal, cardiac, and cerebral protective effects in models of renal failure, cardiac failure, and stroke, confirming the pathologic role of A II in these models. The pioneering studies in experimental animals are being confirmed by a growing number of other AT1-selective blockers and provide the basis of use of losartan for hypertension and its clinical trial in other disease states.
DuPont Merck Research Laboratories, Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
P B
PB
Timmermans
R D
RD
Smith
D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000502:physiology*; D057911:Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists; D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019808:Losartan; D011945:Receptors, Angiotensin / Q000502:physiology; D013777:Tetrazoles / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D057911:Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D007093:Imidazoles; D011945:Receptors, Angiotensin; D013777:Tetrazoles; D000804:Angiotensin II; D019808:Losartan