{blacktriangledown}Moxonidine for hypertension

doi:10.1136/dtb.1997.35533

Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin 1997;35:33-36; doi:10.1136/dtb.1997.35533

${blacktriangledown}$ Moxonidine for hypertension

Relevant BNF section: 2.5.2

Moxonidine (Physiotens-Solvay) was introduced last year as thefirst of a new class of centrally-acting antihypertensive agents,the selective imidazoline receptor agonists. The manufacturerclaims that moxonidine "accurately targets imidazoline receptorsat the cardiovascular control centre in the brainstem" and is"as effective as current first-line therapies for essentialhypertension". Other claims suggest that it causes fewer unwantedeffects than older centrally-acting antihypertensive drugs suchas clonidine and methyldopa. Is moxonidine a useful additionto the growing number of antihypertensives on the market?