The development of new antihypertensive drugs with specific properties for the treatment of established hypertension

Despite the significant blood pressure reduction achieved in clinical studies of antihypertensive therapy, including the Medical Research Council studies, there has not been a significant reduction of coronary events. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the lack of cardioprotection seen in different trials, such as alterations of serum potassium and/or plasma lipids. Recent data indicate that patients with left ventricular hypertrophy at the start of pharmacologic treatment have a worse prognosis than patients with no electrocardiographic abnormalities. It is not known, however, whether the regression or persistence of left ventricular hypertrophy during antihypertensive treatment can influence the incidence of coronary events. According to present knowledge, indoramin, an alpha-adrenoceptor blocking drug, does not affect serum electrolyte and plasma lipid levels, which are among the characteristics to be evaluated in clinical trials designed to evaluate the possibility of better cardioprotection