Nilvadipine

Nilvadipine (ARC029) is a potent calcium channel blocker with an IC50 of 0.03 nM. Nilvadipine (ARC029) is used for the treatment of hypertension and chronic major cerebral artery occlusion. Nilvadipine (ARC029) were administrated? intramuscularly in daily doses of 0.01-10 mg/kg for three weeks, starting on the day of cuff-placement. Nilvadipine (ARC029) prvented the cuff-induced intimal thickening in a dose-dependent manner, and was more potent than the other calcium antagonists including nifedipine, diltiazem and verapamil. In an in vitro experiment on inhibition of migration of rat aortic smooth muscle cells, using zymosan-activated air pouch exudate as a chemoattractant in modified Boyden chambers, Nilvadipine (ARC029) was also the most potent among the calcium antagonists tested. The IC50 values were 0.17 nM for nifedipine, 6 nM for verapamil and 0.24 mM for diltiazem. Effects of these drugs on proliferation of rat aortic smooth muscle cells and rabbit platelet aggregation were also examined in vitro. At concentrations less than 10 mM, none of the drugs inhibited proliferation of the smooth muscle cells, and only verapamil inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation (IC50 = 0.9 mM).