The development of the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren: treating hypertension and beyond.
BACKGROUND
Direct renin inhibitors such as aliskiren offer a novel way of treating hypertension and its co-morbidities, conditions with a considerable prevalence, morbidity, and mortality worldwide.


OBJECTIVE
The burden of hypertension worldwide and the role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in this disease will be reviewed. Current treatments for hypertension and its co-morbidities that work by manipulating this system will be discussed. The development of, and clinical trials involving, direct renin inhibitors will be reviewed, with a focus on aliskiren.


METHODS
PubMed was utilized to search the most recent literature on the topics of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, aldosterone and aliskiren.


CONCLUSIONS
The direct renin inhibitors, including aliskiren, are new agents with great promise for the treatment of hypertension and its co-morbid conditions, including renal and cardiovascular disease.
Siragy
Helmy
H
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. hms7a@virginia.edu
Huang
Jiqian
J
Lieb
David C
DC