title: Pharmacokinetic evaluation of losartan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Blockade of the renin-angiotensin system is one of the major therapeutic strategies in the management of patients with essential hypertension, congestive heart failure and diabetic as well as non-diabetic renal diseases. As the first angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) on the market, losartan belongs to the most frequently prescribed ARB.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present review examines the pharmacokinetics of losartan with a special discussion on the dose of losartan that should be used in clinical practice to obtain the maximal benefits of the drug. Readers are provided with arguments suggesting that the dose of 50 mg losartan is probably too low and that losartan should preferably be prescribed at the dose of 100 mg/day or higher.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Losartan is an effective antagonist of angiotensin II AT(1) receptors which has been shown to provide important clinical benefits in patients with hypertension, congestive heart failure and renal diseases. Losartan should be prescribed at the dose of 100 mg/day and the use of higher doses should be reconsidered in future studies to improve its clinical efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Service of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland. michel.burnier@chuv.ch
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burnier
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wuerzner
mesh_terms: D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D019808:Losartan / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers; D019808:Losartan