[Possibilities in the future application of calcium antagonists. Is the prevention of blood vessel calcinosis possible?].

One of the most important effects of the new pharmacological family of Ca-antagonistic drugs is the prevention of deleterious myocardial Ca overload which is the decisive etiological factor in the production of cardiac necroses, as for instance b-adrenergic overstimulation. However, at an advanced age, also in the human arterial walls, cytotoxic degrees of Ca overload are reached, which probably play an important role in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerotic lesions. It is interesting that severe diabetics and heavy smokers exhibit a much faster progression of age-dependent arterial calcinosis than normal human subjects. In rats the Ca antagonists verapamil and diltiazem not only prevented arterial calcinosis due to overdoses of vitamin D and dihydrotachysterol, but also counteracted age-dependent Ca accumulation. Most impressive effects were also obtained in spontaneously hypertensive rats; chronic oral treatment with nifedipine and other 1,4-dihydropyridines as well as with verapamil kept both blood pressure and Ca content of the arterial walls (aorta, A. mesenterica) in the normal range. Our findings nourish the hope that suitable Ca antagonists can possibly interfere with arterial calcinosis also in humans, thus bearing a new vasoprotective indication.