Section Review—Cardiovascular & Renal: Recent Advances in Imidazoline Receptor Research

Abstract

The discovery of the imidazoline receptors opened up an attractive new field for investigation. Since their existence was first proposed in 1984, extensive biochemical and pharmacological studies have confirmed the involvement of imidazoline receptors in various regulatory and pathological processes, including, primarily but not uniquely, hypertension. They have also been implicated in the mechanism of action of some centrally-acting antihypertensive, clonidine-like drugs. Rilmenidine, an oxazoline chemically related to the imidazolines, is the prototype of such centrally-acting drugs, selective for imidazoline specific receptors with few undesirable side-effects. Several therapeutic applications have already been considered, whereas others are still speculative. In addition to hypertension, ventricular arrhythmia, X-syndrome, diabetes, renal function impairments and mood disorders are examples of pathological processes in which the potential beneficial effects of imidazoline-like drugs may be confirmed in the near future.