Position of calcium antagonists in antihypertensive therapy.

More than 20 years ago calcium antagonists were shown to lower elevated blood pressure. Today's worldwide recognition, at least in part, is due to rising research interest in cellular ion regulation abnormalities in essential hypertension. Using the human platelet as a model for the vascular smooth muscle cell, a direct relationship was observed between intracellular free calcium concentration and the height of blood pressure before as well as during different antihypertensive treatments. Calcium influx is an important determinant of vasoconstriction, and excess calcium influx-dependent vasoconstriction was shown with plethysmographical studies in patients with essential hypertension. Calcium antagonists acutely lower blood pressure by reducing intracellular calcium and peripheral vascular resistance. The degree of the attendant sympathetic nerve reflex activation and counterregulatory mechanisms codetermine the antihypertensive result of the individual. Chronic monotherapy with calcium antagonists results in an antihypertensive response that is related directly to the patient's age and pretreatment blood pressure and indirectly to renin. These studies led to a new treatment concept: calcium antagonists can be used as alternatives to diuretic drugs primarily in the older and low-renin patients and beta-blockers or converting enzyme inhibitors can be used in the younger or high-renin patients with greater efficacy. With the appropriate choice, calcium antagonists alone or combined with any other antihypertensive drug provide good blood pressure control with little subjective and objective adverse effects.