A Systematic Review of the Effect of Vericiguat on Patients with Heart Failure

Urjosee Sahana, Markus Wehland, Ulf Simonsen, Herbert Schulz, Daniela Grimm*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperReviewResearchpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite recent advances in heart failure (HF) therapy, the risk of cardiovascular (CV) mortality, morbidity, and HF hospitalization (HFH) are major challenges in HF treatment. We aimed to review the potential of vericiguat as a treatment option for HF. A systematic literature review was performed using the PubMed database and ClinicalTrials.gov. Four randomized controlled trials were identified, which study the safety and efficacy of vericiguat in HF patients. Vericiguat activates soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) by binding to the beta-subunit, bypassing the requirement for NO-induced activation. The nitric oxide (NO)-sGC-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway plays an essential role in cardiovascular (CV) regulation and the protection of healthy cardiac function but is impaired in HF. Vericiguat reduced the risk of CV death and HFH in HF patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) but showed no therapeutic effect on HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The trials demonstrated a favorable safety profile with most common adverse events such as hypotension, syncope, and anemia. Therefore, vericiguat is recommended for patients with HFrEF and a minimum systolic blood pressure of 100 mmHg. Treatment with vericiguat is considered when the individual patient experiences decompensation despite being on guideline-recommended medication, e.g., angiotensin-converting inhibitor/AT1 receptor antagonist, beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, spironolactone, and sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitors. Furthermore, larger studies are required to investigate any potential effect of vericiguat in HFpEF patients. Despite the limitations, vericiguat can be recommended for patients with HFrEF, where standard-of-care is insufficient, and the disease worsens.

Original languageEnglish
Article number11826
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume24
Issue14
ISSN1661-6596
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jul 2023

Keywords

  • adverse effects
  • clinical trials
  • heart failure
  • vericiguat

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Systematic Review of the Effect of Vericiguat on Patients with Heart Failure'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this