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Cardio classics revisited: focus on the role of amlodipine

Alice J Owen1, Christopher M Reid

  • 1Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Integrated Blood Pressure Control
|February 21, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker, effectively lowers blood pressure and cardiovascular risks when combined with other antihypertensives. Evidence supports its use with diuretics or ACE inhibitors in high-risk patients.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Amlodipine is a widely used dihydropyridine calcium antagonist for hypertension.
  • It has demonstrated efficacy in reducing blood pressure and cardiovascular events, particularly in combination therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the cardiovascular benefits of amlodipine in combination with other antihypertensive agents.
  • To assess the evidence for amlodipine combination therapies in high-risk patient groups.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing clinical trial data and evidence.
  • Analysis of combination therapies involving amlodipine with diuretics, ACE inhibitors, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers.

Main Results:

  • Strong evidence supports cardiovascular benefits of amlodipine with diuretics or ACE inhibitors in patients with coronary artery disease, diabetes, or renal disease risk.
  • Combination therapies with angiotensin II receptor blockers or renin inhibitors show effective blood pressure lowering but await further trial results for CV and renal outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • Amlodipine-based combination therapies offer significant benefits for blood pressure control and cardiovascular risk reduction.
  • Further research is needed to confirm the long-term renal and cardiovascular benefits of amlodipine combined with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockers.

Keywords:
amlodipineantihypertensivecalcium antagonistcardiovascular diseasehypertension

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