Metabolic effects of cardiovascular drugs.

Prescription of cardiovascular drugs is aimed at preventing and treating morbid conditions affecting the cardiovascular system. However, apart from their primary therapeutic target, some of the ordinary drugs used in cardiology daily practice also have additional pharmacological actions. Among these ancillary actions, those primarily affecting global and cardiac metabolism deserve special attention. In fact, apart from primary cardiac metabolic diseases, most cardiovascular diseases are heavily influenced by the patient's metabolic status and adaptation to the disease itself. In this context, drugs affecting global and cardiovascular metabolism besides their recognized main mechanism of action may be of special interest, for both potential beneficial and deleterious effects, especially in the long-term period. In all cases, these effects should be well understood and known by all physicians managing patients with cardiovascular morbidities. The aim of this article is to describe the direct metabolic actions of some of the principal cardiovascular drugs.