[Calcium antagonists: current and future applications based on new evidence. Calcium antagonists and diabetes].

Diabetic vascular complication is a leading cause of acquired blindness, end-stage renal failure, a variety of neuropathies and accelerated atherosclerosis, which could account for disabilities and high mortality rates in patients with diabetes. The formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have been known to progress at an accelerated rate in diabetes. Recent understanding of this process has confirmed that AGEs-their receptor RAGE system is implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic vascular complication. Therefore, besides blood glucose and pressure control, the inhibition of the AGE-RAGE axis may be a novel therapeutic target for preventing vascular complications in diabetes. Recently, nifedipine, one of the most widely used Ca channel blockers, has been reported to exert anti-oxidative and anti-AGE-RAGE axis properties. The use of nifedipine, in addition to ensuring blood pressure control, may have beneficial effects in preventing cardiorenal vascular events in patients with diabetes.