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Published on: May 17, 2024
[Molecular target drug for hypertension and cardiovascular disease]
1Department of Medicine and Clinical Science, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.
Insights
Molecular target drugs offer precise treatments for cardiovascular disease and hypertension by targeting specific molecules involved in disease development. This review highlights key drugs like angiotensin receptor blockers, endothelin receptor blockers, and statins crucial for managing these conditions.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular biology and pharmacology.
- Molecular mechanisms of cardiovascular disease.
Context:
- Cardiovascular disease and hypertension stem from genetic and environmental factors.
- Disease pathogenesis involves elevated gene products like vasoactive peptides and cell surface antigens.
- Conventional drugs lack the specificity of molecularly targeted therapies.
Purpose:
- To review molecularly targeted drugs for cardiovascular disease and hypertension.
- To emphasize the clinical significance of specific drug classes.
Summary:
- Molecular target drugs precisely inhibit disease-specific molecules (e.g., receptors, signaling pathways, mRNA).
- Examples include angiotensin receptor blockers, endothelin receptor blockers, and statins.
- These targeted agents demonstrate superior specificity compared to conventional treatments.
Impact:
- Enhanced understanding of molecular targets in cardiovascular pathophysiology.
- Provides a basis for more effective and specific hypertension and cardiovascular disease management.
- Highlights the indispensable role of specific molecularly targeted drugs in current clinical practice.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular disease or hypertension is caused by genetic abnormalities and/or environment factors. Molecular biological and biochemical analyses have demonstrated the cardiovascular disease or hypertension is related to increased gene products such as vasoactive peptide, activated signal transduction pathways, and cell surface antigen, etc. Molecular target drugs have been designed to suppress these molecules via receptor, signal transduction pathways, or mRNA. Differing from conventional drug, molecular target drugs show higher specificity for pathophysiology in cardiovascular disease or hypertension. Although term of 'molecular target drug' is not used frequently in the field of cardiovascular or hypertension, I describe in this review, angiotensin receptor blocker, endothelin receptor blocker and statin, because these three drugs are indispensable to treat these diseases in the present clinical setting.
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Targets for Drug Action: Overview
Receptors are either membrane-spanning or intracellular proteins, which upon binding a ligand, get activated and transmit the signal downstream to elicit a response. Drugs bind receptors, either mimicking the action of endogenous ligands or blocking the receptor activity to bring about a modified response. Nearly 35% of approved drugs target the G...