Table 1.

Drugs Adversely Affecting Vascular Function

Drug Class	Mechanism of Action	Clinical Application	Vascular Effects	Observed in humans?
Phosphodiesterase inhibitors (e.g. Roflumilast)	Suppression of proinflammatory cytokines; Vasodilation of respiratory smooth muscle	Treatment of pulmonary diseases such as COPD or asthma.	Periarteritis[10], endothelial loss[11] and vessel injury[5] in rats, pigs and dogs	No
Chemotherapeutic drugs (e.g. Platinum compounds (Cisplatin), Anthracyclines (Doxorubicin), Taxanes (Paclitaxel))	Induce DNA damage, promoting cell death and preventing tumor cell proliferation and growth, prevent angiogenesis	Cancer treatment	Detection of endothelial markers in human plasma, including vWF, PAI-1, t-PA, and CRP; Decreased nitric oxide levels; Reduced brachial artery flow-mediated dilation; Endothelial cell apoptosis; and promotion of inflammation[12].	Yes
Adenosine agonists (e.g. adenosine, CI-947)	Cardiac vasodilation	Hypertension	Transmural necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in dogs[13].	No
Dopamine (DA1) agonist (e.g.Fenoldopam)	Activates DA1 receptors in nephron, promoting sodium excretion	Hypertension	Vasodilation, necrosis of medial smooth muscle cells, hemorrhage; decreased caveolin-1 expression and apoptosis in rats[14]	No
Potassium channel opener (e.g. minoxidil, hydralazine, apresoline)	Opening sarcolemmal K+ channels relaxes vascular smooth muscle	Hair growth, Hypertension	Vasodilation; medial hemorrhage and necrosis, and perivascular inflammation in dogs[15].	No
Endothelin receptor antagonist (e.g. SB209670, CI-1020)	Relaxes arteries by blocking smooth muscle and endothelial endothelin-1 receptors	Hypertension	Vasodilation; medial smooth muscle necrosis and arterial inflammation in dogs[16]	No