Journal name: Clinical Interventions in Aging Article Designation: Letter Year: 2015 Volume: 10 Clinical Interventions in Aging Dovepress Running head verso: Zhu et al Running head recto: Alpha -blockers for benign prostatic hyperplasia open access to scientific and medical research 1 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S82435 Open Access Full Text Article LETTER Personalized therapeutics of α1-blockers in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia Ling-ling Zhu1 Dear editor Zhi-jun Feng2 We read with great interest the multicenter, prospective, comparative cohort study by Quan Zhou3 Zhang et al1 who suggested that patients with uncontrolled or untreated hypertension 1Geriatric VIP Ward, Division and lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH/ of Nursing, 2Department of Urology LUTS) should be warned about a decrease in blood pressure on initiation of alfuzosin Surgery, 3Department of Pharmacy, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School 10 mg therapy alone or concomitantly with antihypertensive medication. Here we of Medicine, Zhejiang University, discuss and share our perspectives on this issue. Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China α1-blockers are the most frequently prescribed medical therapy in the treatment of BPH/LUTS. A number of -blockers (alfuzosin, doxazosin, terazosin, tamsulosin, naf- For personal use only. α1 topidil, silodosin) have been approved for the treatment of BPH throughout the world; however, they exhibit different selectivity toward α1-adrenoceptor (AR) subtypes. Three types of α1-AR subtypes (α1A, α1B, and α1D) are found in human tissue. The α1A subtype is located in the human prostate, bladder base, bladder neck, prostatic capsule, and prostatic urethra, and mediates contraction of the smooth muscle in these tissues. In addition to α1A-ARs, α1D-ARs are also present to a significant extent in the human 2 prostate, and α1B-ARs are thought to mediate contraction of human arteries. The early α1-blockers (alfuzosin, doxazosin, terazosin) were nonselective for subtype and were associated with blood pressure-related adverse effects, such as ortho- static hypotension.3 Sato et al compared the binding affinity of tamsulosin for human Clinical Interventions in Aging downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 137.108.70.14 on 16-Jan-2020 α1-AR subtypes with that of other α1-blockers, ie, silodosin, terazosin, alfuzosin, and 4 naftopidil. Tamsulosin has relative selectivity for the α1A-subtype and α1D-subtype (α1A = α1D α1B), and naftopidil has relative selectivity for the α1D-subtype (α1D α1A α1B). The affinity of tamsulosin for the humanα 1A-AR was, respectively, 5-fold, 120-fold, 280-fold, and 400-fold higher than that of silodosin, terazosin, alfuzosin, and naftopidil, respectively. However, the α1B-AR binding affinity of silodosin was shown to be much lower than that of tamsulosin in vitro.5 The selectivity of silodosin towards the α1A-AR subtype versus the α1B-AR subtype (α1A α1D α1B) was reported to be 38-fold higher than that of tamsulosin in studies using transgenic Chinese hamster ovary Correspondence: Quan Zhou cells.6,7 The selectivity ratio ( / ) for terazosin, doxazosin, alfuzosin, tamsulosin, Department of Pharmacy, the Second α1A α1B Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, and silodosin was 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 6.3, and 166, respectively.8 The unique AR selectivity Zhejiang University, 88 Jiefang Road, profile of silodosin minimizes the propensity for blood pressure-related adverse effects Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 9 310009, People’s Republic of China caused by α1B-AR blockade. Regarding the efficacy of subtype-selectiveα 1-blockers Tel +86 571 8778 4615 in the management of BPH, expression of -AR subtype mRNA was observed as Fax +86 571 8702 2776 α1 Email [email protected] a predictor. Tamsulosin hydrochloride was more effective in patients with dominant submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Clinical Interventions in Aging 2015:10 621–624 621 Dovepress © 2015 Zhu et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S82435 permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress.com/permissions.php Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) 1 / 1 Zhu et al Dovepress expression of the α1A-AR subtype, whereas naftopidil was Disclosure more effective in those with dominant expression of the The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. 10 α1D-AR subtype. With respect to the indications for α1-blockers, doxazosin References and terazosin are currently indicated for the treatment of both 1. Zhang LT, Lee SW, Park K, et al. Multicenter, prospective, comparative cohort study evaluating the efficacy and safety of alfuzosin 10 mg with hypertension and BPH/LUTS, and are more likely to impair regard to blood pressure in men with lower urinary tract symptoms sug- safety-relevant physiological blood pressure control in nor- gestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia with or without antihypertensive 11,12 medications. Clin Interv Aging. 2015;10:277–286. motensives with LUTS than are tamsulosin and silodosin. 2. Sohn JT, Ding X, McCune DF, Perez DM, Murray PA. Fentanyl attenu- Alfuzosin is only indicated for treatment of BPH/LUTS. ates alpha1B-adrenoceptor-mediated pulmonary artery contraction. The study by Zhang et al demonstrated that alfuzosin 10 mg Anesthesiology. 2005;103:327–334. 3. Schwinn DA, Roehrborn CG. Alpha1-adrenoceptor subtypes and lower has no clinically important effects on blood pressure when urinary tract symptoms. Int J Urol. 2008;15:193–199. used to treat BPH/LUTS in men who were physiologically 4. Sato S, Hatanaka T, Yuyama H, et al. Tamsulosin potently and selectively antagonizes human recombinant (1A/1D)-adrenoceptors: normotensive or had hypertension controlled by antihyperten- α slow dissociation from the α(1A)-adrenoceptor may account for selec- sive medication. The relevance of their finding is that it pro- tivity for α(1A)-adrenoceptor over α(1B)-adrenoceptor subtype. Biol vides reassurance for clinicians when prescribing alfuzosin Pharm Bull. 2012;35:72–77. 5. Yamada S, Ito Y, Tsukada H. α1-Adrenoceptors and muscarinic 10 mg for a patient who is already on antihypertensive ther- receptors in voiding function – binding characteristics of therapeutic apy, without the need to worry about the risk of hypotensive agents in relation to the pharmacokinetics. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2011; 72:205–217. episodes. However, alfuzosin 10 mg significantly decreased 6. Yoshida M, Kudoh J, Homma Y, Kawabe K. Safety and efficacy of blood pressure in patients with uncontrolled or untreated silodosin for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Clin Interv hypertension, indicating that such patients require careful Aging. 2011;6:161–172. 7. Schwinn DA, Price DT, Narayan P. Alpha1-adrenoceptor subtype 1 evaluation before initiating alfuzosin therapy. The study by selectivity and lower urinary tract symptoms. Mayo Clin Proc. 2004;79: Zhang et al further indicates that the clinical selectivity and 1423–1434. 8. Yamada S, Ito Y. α(1)-adrenoceptors in the urinary tract. Handb Exp cardiovascular safety of α -blockers are related to patient- For personal use only. 1 Pharmacol. 2011;202:283–306. treatment interactions (comedication and comorbidity), and 9. Lepor H, Kazzazi A, Djavan B. α-blockers for benign prostatic hyper- their finding will enrich our knowledge about the personalized plasia: the new era. Curr Opin Urol. 2012;22:7–15. 10. Kojima Y, Sasaki S, Kubota Y, et al. Expression of alpha1-adrenoceptor 1 therapeutics of α1-blockers in the treatment of BPH/LUTS. subtype mRNA as a predictor of the efficacy of subtype selective However, the vasodilatory adverse events of alfuzosin are alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonists in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia. J Urol. 2008;179:1040–1046. related to dose, dosage interval, and formulation, ie, they are 11. de Mey C. Alpha(1)-blockers for BPH: are there differences? Eur Urol. less frequent with once-daily, sustained-release alfuzosin 1999;36 Suppl 3:52–63. 10 mg than with the three times daily 2.5 mg formulation 12. Capitanio U, Salonia A, Briganti A, Montorsi F. Silodosin in the man- agement of lower urinary tract symptoms as a result of benign prostatic 13 (6.3% versus 9.4%, respectively). Therefore, clinicians hyperplasia: who are the best candidates? Int J Clin Pract. 2013;67: should be cautious about extrapolating the finding of the 544–551. 13. van Kerrebroeck P, Jardin A, Laval KU, van Cangh P. Efficacy and study by Zhang et al to treatment of BPH/LUTS with an safety of a new prolonged release formulation of alfuzosin 10 mg once Clinical Interventions in Aging downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 137.108.70.14 on 16-Jan-2020 immediate-release formulation of alfuzosin.1 daily versus alfuzosin 2.5 mg thrice daily and placebo in patients with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. ALFORTI Study Group. Eur Urol. 2000;37:306–313. Acknowledgment This work was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Health (2012KYA090). 622 submit your manuscript