[Beneficial effect of ARB for ischemic stroke]

Angiotensin II plays a pathophysiological role for the development of cardiovascular disease. Angiotensin receptor blocker(ARB) is an antihypertensive drug that blocks the angiotensin II receptor. Recently, according to the reports of basic research, ARB has various cerebrovascular-protective-effects such as improvement of cerebrovascular auto-regulation, stroke prevention, reduction of brain edema, improvement of neurological outcome in cerebral ischemia and so on. There is no report of ARB being used for the acute stage of stroke. In an ongoing ACCESS(Acute Candesartan Cilexetil Evaluation in Stroke Survivors) trial, the ARB candesartan is being used to treat the acute stage of stroke. This trial is expected to clarify whether early treatment with candesartan during the acute stage of stroke is beneficial for the neurological outcome or prognosis.