What classes of antihypertensive agents are currently available?
Diuretics, CCBs, ACE inhibitors, ARBs, direct renin inhibitors, β-blockers, and α-blockers are available. There are additional drug classes available, which have more profound adverse effects and which are not first-line or second-line or even third-line agents. These include mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, α-adrenergic receptor agonists (e.g., clonidine, guanfacine, methyldopa), and direct-acting vasodilators (e.g., hydralazine, to be considered only in combination with a β-blocker due to reflex tachycardia).
