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Calcium channel blockers (CCB), calcium channel antagonists or calcium antagonists [2] are a group of medications that disrupt the movement of calcium (Ca 2+ ) through calcium channels . [ 3 ] Calcium channel blockers are used as antihypertensive drugs , i.e., as medications to decrease blood pressure in patients with hypertension .
Compared with certain other L-type calcium channel blockers (for example those of the phenylalkylamine class such as verapamil) that have significant action at the heart, the dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers lower blood pressure mainly by relaxing the smooth muscle of the blood vessel walls. [3]
Lercanidipine (trade name Zanidip, among others) is an antihypertensive (blood pressure lowering) drug. It belongs to the dihydropyridine class of calcium channel blockers, which work by relaxing and opening the blood vessels allowing the blood to circulate more freely around the body.
Antihypertensives are classified by different mechanisms or sites of action. Some of the most commonly used drugs to treat hypertension include diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers (CCBs), and beta-blockers.
Class IV agents are slow non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers. They decrease conduction through the AV node , and shorten phase two (the plateau) of the cardiac action potential . They thus reduce the contractility of the heart, so may be inappropriate in heart failure.
The mechanism by which ethosuximide affects neuronal excitability includes block of T-type calcium channels, and may include effects of the drug on other classes of ion channel. The primary finding that ethosuximide is a T-type calcium channel blocker gained widespread support, but initial attempts to replicate the finding were inconsistent.
Conversely, when open channel blockers bind to the cell they prevent the normal function of agonist binding. For example, voltage-gated channels open and close based on membrane potential and are critical in the generation of action potentials by their allowance of ions to flow down established gradients. However, open channels blockers can ...
Cinnarizine is an antihistamine and calcium channel blocker of the diphenylmethylpiperazine group. [5] It is prescribed for nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness [6] or other sources such as chemotherapy, [7] vertigo, [8] or Ménière's disease. [9] Cinnarizine is one of the leading causes of drug-induced parkinsonism. [5]