Search

In many patients with kidney disease, once renal excretory function is significantly compromised, filtration capacity will progressively decline until end-stage renal failure develops. In individual patients, the loss of filtration rate is linear with time and may occur despite remission of the disease process that initially damaged the kidney [59]. While progress in dialysis and transplantation has been great, therapies with prevent progressive kidney damage in humans have yet to be identified.

Recent evidence suggests that calcium channel blockers have specific effects on renal hemodynamics in patients with hypertension and may also slow the progression of chronic renal failure. When these agents are studied in vitro, their predominant effect is to reverse afferent arteriolar vasoconstriction induced by catecholamines or angiotensin II. Because efferent resistance may remain high, glomerular filtration rate rises while renal blood flow remains low. The effects in vivo are less consistent. In human hypertension, calcium channel blockers lower renal resistance and may raise both renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate. In experimental models of chronic renal disease, calcium channel blockers slow the progression of renal damage; however, variable effects on renal hemodynamics have been found. Other factors implicated in the progression of renal damage, including compensatory renal hypertrophy, platelet aggregation, and calcium deposition, may also be favorably influenced by these agents. Recent studies suggest that calcium channel blockers may have similar protective effects in patients with hypertension and chronic renal disease.