Beta-adrenergic blockers as cardioprotective agents

Diurnal Heart Rate Reactivity: A Predictor of Severity of Experimental Coronary and Carotid Atherosclerosis

“…Support for this association has also been borne out in nonhuman primate experiments where plaque formation was shown to correlate positively with HR; whereas, lowered HR retarded atherosclerosis both in the coronary circulation and at the carotid bifurcation [2,3]. It is therefore not surprising that clinical application of pharmacologic agents which lower HR (b-blockers and calcium channel blockers) reduce the incidence of secondary coronary events [9,10].…”

The Effects of Antihypertensive Agents on Atherosclerosis-Related Parameters of Human Aorta Intimal Cells

“…Therefore, agents capable of producing a beneficial effect on the vessel wall, preventing the development of atherosclerosis, or at least not stimulating atherogenesis, would seem to be preferable in the therapy of hypertensive patients. While the atherogenic properties of Orekhov/Tertov/Pivovarova beta-blockers were revealed in our cell model, it should, however, be noted that the atherogenicity of beta-blockers may not occur in vivo, since these agents produce numerous indirect positive effects on the vessel wall [24], and may reduce plaque rupture, thus, indirectly inhibiting thrombosis [25]. On the basis of our in vitro and ex vivo results, the ranking of antiatherosclerosis-related effects is amlodipine 1 verapamil 1 perindopril 1 propranolol.…”

β-Blocker

“…β-Blocker senkten überzeugend die Gesamtmortalität, die Reinfarktrate sowie den plötzlichen Herztod [19,23,24,44]. In den vergangenen 30 Jahren wurden über 20 große klinische Studien durchgeführt und mehr als 20.000 Patienten in diesen Studien untersucht.…”