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Impact of statins in the treatment of hypertension

Abstract:

Nowadays, statins represent a key point in daily medical practice. Beyond their role as hypolipemic agents, statins have become renowned by virtue of their extensive spectrum of beneficial pleiotropic pharmacological effects. These include the improvement of endothelial dysfunction, sta-bilization of the atherosclerotic plaque, an increase of the bioavailability of nitric oxide, and anti-inflammatory prop-erties. One of their greatest points of interest is their po-tential impact on the regulation of blood pressure. Recent studies suggest statins may be invaluable tools for the treatment of hypertension (HTN), in addition to confer-ring an important decrease in cardiovascular risk. Never-theless, these epidemiological links are complex, and the effect of statins may be more generalized for the devel-opment of cardiovascular disease than specific for HTN. Although the presence of tangible benefits is apparent, these may not have the magnitude suggested by their multiplicity of pharmacological effects observed at a mo-lecular level, which would then display a relatively modest scope. The clinical limitations inherent to statin therapy cannot be overlooked either, especially concerning their muscular and metabolic adverse effects. Current preclini-cal and clinical knowledge relating to the role of statins in the treatment of HTN is reviewed in this article.