Muscarinic receptor type-3 in hypertension and cholinergic-adrenergic crosstalk: genetic insights and potential for new antihypertensive targets

Hypertension is a major risk factor for heart disease, renal failure, stroke, and vascular dementia and is the single most important cause of mortality worldwide.1 High blood pressure is easily detected and many effective and inexpensive antihypertensive drugs are available. It is a reversible condition and when appropriately treated, cardiovascular events are significantly reduced. However, hypertension remains a major challenge globally, with 30%-35% of adults having hypertension of whom less than 30% are treated and of those only a small proportion (10%-20%) are adequately controlled.2 Numerous factors contribute to these disappointing statistics including the fact that exact mechanisms that cause hypertension remain elusive.