Heterocyclic diuretics

Abstract

Diuretics are substances causing an increased production of urine in an organism thus decreasing the fluid volume in its tissues and serous cavities. This biological property common for all diuretics is of first importance for determining the medical area of their use, i.e. in the treatment of kidney, cardiac, hepatic, and other kinds of edema. Different groups of diuretic medications differ markedly in their mechanism of effect on the organism, their ability to affect the electrolyte balance, indications (or conversely contraindications) for use, side effects, etc. [1-3]. The history of the systematic study and practical use of diuretics amounts to a little more than 50 years. The basis of the current arsenal of the most effective of these medications is a variety of heterocyclic derivatives. In this review we have attempted to follow the steps of creating heterocyclic diuretics, to correlate their structure-biological relationships, and also to determine current trends in the further development of medicines in this pharmacological group.