Optimizing therapeutic strategies to achieve renal and cardiovascular risk reduction in diabetic patients with angiotensin receptor blockers.

The major challenge for the treatment of hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes is to achieve the uniformly recommended blood pressure goal of 130/80 mmHg, and 120/75 mmHg in proteinuric patients. Such low target blood pressure levels require the administration of multiple drugs. Angiotensin receptor blockers and the combination of angiotensin receptor blockers with diuretics fulfil the criteria to lower blood pressure effectively with a placebo-like side-effect profile. Beyond pressure control, clinical prospective trials have documented that it does matter what kind of antihypertensive agent is used to control blood pressure. Large-scale follow-up trials have documented blood pressure independent effects of angiotensin receptor blocker on cardiac [left-ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), congestive heart failure] and renal protection (proteinuria, chronic renal failure). Of note, in these trials, angiotensin receptor blockers have been combined with diuretics, and most of the included patients have been on combination therapy comprising two to four antihypertensive agents. In addition to the combination of an angiotensin receptor blocker with a diuretic, the combination of an angiotensin receptor blocker with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor appeared to be most effective in reducing proteinuria, attenuating chronic renal failure and treating congestive heart failure.