New Data Show Olmesartan, An Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB) Has Significant Anti-atherosclerotic And Vascular Protective
Article Date: 06 Sep 2007 - 3:00 PDT
Vascular protection data presented at the European Society of Cardiology's (ESC) 2007 Annual Congress in Vienna have shown that Daiichi-Sankyo's angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB), olmesartan, can prevent and reverse atherosclerotic processes including: oxidative stress,1 endothelial inflammation,2 remodelling of cardiac vascular tissues,3,4 development of atherosclerotic lesions5 and reduction of large plaques.6,7 These additional vascular protective effects appear to be independent of olmesartan's blood-pressure-reducing function.6,7
The Multicentre Olmesartan Atherosclerosis Regression Evaluation (MORE) study6,7 sought to clarify whether two-year treatment with olmesartan could reverse atherosclerotic plaque progression, and used the beta-blocker, atenolol, as a direct comparator. Preliminary findings look set to show:
- In patients with larger plaque volumes olmesartan can significantly reduce plaque volume compared to atenolol
- olmesartan's regressive effects could be evident from week 28 onwards
- blood pressure reductions are similar in both groups
Olmesartan's vascular protective effects have also been assessed in a series of previous clinical studies including EUropean Trial on Olmesartan and Pravastatin in Inflammation and Atherosclerosis (EUTOPIA) study8 and Vascular Improvement with Olmesartan Medoxomil Study (VIOS).4
EUTOPIA showed that olmesartan produced significantly greater reductions in inflammatory atherosclerosis markers after 6 weeks compared with placebo.8 VIOS showed that olmesartan can reverse the hypertension-associated changes in small vascular structure compared with atenolol. After one year of treatment, olmesartan reduced the wall:lumen ratio of small resistance arteries from baseline (14.9%) to a value (11.1%) similar to that seen in a group of normotensive control patients (11.0%).4
Professor Enrico Agabiti-Rosei, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy, and one of the MORE study lead investigators said: "The olmesartan portfolio of vascular protective studies including EUTOPIA and VIOS show that in patients with hypertension, olmesartan is not only highly effective in reducing blood pressure but it appears also to possess additional cardiovascular protection. The MORE study shows that olmesartan is the first ARB to significantly reduce large atherosclerotic plaque volume. In light of published data and preliminary MORE study findings, olmesartan's additional vascular protective benefits should be considered seriously when prescribing an anti-hypertensive agent in patients with vascular damage."