INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ANTIHYPERTENSIVE …

← Back to document page

IntroductionThe vast majority of hypertensive patients is treatedwith ANTIHYPERTENSIVE drugs for many years. Othertherapeutic agents are frequently used simultaneously,thus giving rise to the possibility of drug-drug interac-tions. The potential for drug-drug INTERACTIONS increas-es with rising age, since elderly patients receive largernumber of drugs, but also because the renal excretionof several therapeutic agents is impaired in the elderly,as a result of diminishing kidney function (1, 2). Theinteractions BETWEEN ANTIHYPERTENSIVE drugs and othertherapeutic agents will be discussed and summarizedin the present issue, after a brief general explanationof the various mechanisms underlying drug-drug inter-actions. The combination and mutual interactionsbetween various categories of ANTIHYPERTENSIVE agentswill be dealt with by us in a separate issue of thisnewsletter. MechanismsThere are several mechanisms by which drugs mayinteract (3-5), and most of these mechanisms can becategorized as pharmacokinetic (involving intestinalabsorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination)or as pharmacodynamic, or as additive toxicity, INTERACTIONS : the interaction in intes-tinal absorptionis best illustrated by an example: tetra-cylines and other broad-spectrum antibiotics mayimpair the absorption of oral contraceptives (in particu-lar those with low-dose progestogens and/or estro-gens) and hence render contraception unsafe.

Introduction The vast majority of hypertensive patients is treated with antihypertensive drugs for many years. Other therapeutic agents are frequently used simultaneously,

  Between, Interactions, Antihypertensive, Interactions between antihypertensive