Sacubitril/valsartan in therapy of hypertension

Abstract

In recent years a new very promising drug was introduced for the treatment of chronic heart failure. This drug, sacubitril/valsartan, prevents the clinical progression of surviving patients with heart failure more effectively than enalapril and it reduces the need for hospitalization by more than 20%. At the same time it has been shown that it reduces blood pressure particularly in patients with essential hypertension. This drug is an inhibitor of neprilysin, an enzyme that degrades natriuretic factors. Natriuretic factors (ANP, BNP, CNP) increase diuresis and natriuresis, reduce the activity of the sympathetic system, relax the blood vessels and inhibit fibrosis. Several studies have shown that sacubitril/valsartan therapy more significantly reduces blood pressure in patients with salt-sensitive or refractory to treatment hypertension than is observed with valsartan or amlodipine. Furthermore, beneficial effects of this drug on central blood pressure and renal function have been demonstrated in patients with chronic renal failure. More rarely than enalapril it leads to hyperkalaemia in patients treated simultaneously with mineralocorticoid receptor inhibitors. Sacubitril/valsartan is the first representative of a new class of drugs that inhibit neprilysin, which probably in the future will be frequently used in hypertension.