title: Potential benefits of rho-kinase inhibition in arterial hypertension.
abstract: Arterial hypertension is a major health problem, accounting for 12 % of the global death rate. A large proportion of patients treated for high blood pressure do not reach target blood pressure values. The question arises if new antihypertensive drugs could improve present hypertension treatment. Rho-kinases (ROCKs) are ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine kinases and involved in a variety of cell functions. They contribute to the pathogenesis of human and experimental hypertension. Pharmacological ROCK inhibition has been shown to effectively lower blood pressure in patients and experimental animals. Progress has been made towards the understanding on how non-selective ROCK inhibitors lower arterial pressure and efforts are currently undertaken to develop ROCK inhibitors to improve their specificity and isoenzyme selectivity. If introduction of ROCK inhibitors for the treatment of high blood pressure can significantly advance currently available options of antihypertensive pharmacotherapy awaits further experimental and clinical research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswalder Str. 11c, 17495, Greifswald, Karlsburg, Germany, grisko@uni-greifswald.de.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Grisk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D054460:rho-Associated Kinases