Efficacy of moxonidine in the treatment of hypertension in obese, noncontrolled hypertensive patients.

Background: Obesity has become an epidemic problem, contributing to metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. An adequate blood pressure control in this population of obese individuals is extremely difficult to achieve, and in most cases, therapeutic combinations are required. Pharmacologic treatment with moxonidine, a central I(1) imidazole receptor agonist, is a very interesting option because it acts upon the mechanisms implicated in the development of arterial hypertension in these patients.