Table 1.

Qualitative summary of the available evidence on the effect of drugs used in nephrology on arterial wall properties

Drug(s)	Effect on Arterial Wall Properties	Best Level of Evidence	Level of Evidence in CKD or Kidney Transplant Recipients
AGEs breakers	↑ EF	+	+
Antihypertensive drugs
ACEi	↓ AS	+++	++
ARBs	↓ AS	+++	++
DRi	↓ AS	++	+
β-blockers	Doubtful
Calcium channel blockers	↓ AS	+++	+
Diuretics (spironolactone)	↓ AS	+	+
Antioxidants
Ascorbic acid	↓ AS	++	++
Endothelin-1 antagonists	↓ AS, ↑ EF	+	+
Immunosuppressive drugs
Anti-TNF	↓ AS	+++	°
Cyclosporine	↑ AS	++	++
Tacrolimus	Doubtful
Everolimus or sirolimus	Doubtful
Belatacept	Doubtful
Mycophenolate mofetil	↓ AS	+	+
Corticosteroids	↑ AS	+	°
Salicylates (low doses)	↓ AS	++	°
Salicylates (high doses)	↑ AS	+	°
Lipid-lowering drugs
Statins	↑ EF	+	+
Noncalcium-containing phosphate binders	↓ AS	+	+
Parathyroid hormone	Doubtful
Xanthine oxidase inhibitors
Allopurinol	↑ EF	+++	+
Vitamin D analogs
Vitamin D2	None	+++	++
Vitamin D3	None	+++	++
Paricalcitol	↑ EF	+++	++

Arrows indicate increase or decrease. AGEs, advanced glycation end-products; EF, endothelial function; +, data derived from few single-center cohorts; ACEi, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; AS, arterial stiffness; +++, evidence on the basis of meta-analysis; ++, large number of evidence derived from multiple single-center cohorts; ARBs, angiotensin II receptor blockers; DRi, direct renin inhibitors; °, lack of or scarce data.