Editorial
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World J Hypertens. Dec 23, 2011; 1(1): 3-6
Published online Dec 23, 2011. doi: 10.5494/wjh.v1.i1.3
Manidipine: A different dihydropyridine
Christos V Rizos, Moses S Elisaf
Christos V Rizos, Moses S Elisaf, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece
Author contributions: Rizos CV and Elisaf MS contributed equally to this paper
Correspondence to: Moses Elisaf, MD, FASA, FRSH, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece. egepi@cc.uoi.gr
Telephone: +30-26510-07509 Fax: +30-26510-07016
Received: August 20, 2011
Revised: October 20, 2011
Accepted: December 16, 2011
Published online: December 23, 2011
Abstract

Blood pressure (BP) plays an important role in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. Moreover, hypertensive patients often have additional cardiovascular risk factors. Despite the abundance of antihypertensive drug categories, satisfactory BP regulation is often difficult to achieve. A major cause of this difficulty to properly manage BP is the less than optimal adherence of subjects to treatment. This is often due to the various adverse effects of the antihypertensive drugs. Calcium channel blockers (CCB) have an established efficacy for reducing BP. However, their side effect of peripheral edema is often a cause for the discontinuation of treatment. Manidipine holds some unique properties differentiating it from the rest of the CCB class. It has a better safety profile with a lower incidence of peripheral edema. Moreover, there are indications that manidipine holds additional beneficial attributes, such as improvement of renal function and decrease of insulin resistance.

Keywords: Manidipine; Hypertension; Calcium channel blockers; Peripheral edema; Renal function; Insulin resistance