Darifenacin:: a novel M3 muscarinic selective receptor antagonist for the treatment of overactive bladder

Darifenacin is a novel M-3 muscarinic selective receptor antagonist for once-daily treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), a highly prevalent, chronic and debilitating disease defined by urinary urgency with or without urge incontinence, usually with increased frequency of micturition and nocturia. In vitro, darifenacin is a potent and specific muscarinic receptor antagonist with less than or equal to 59-fold higher selectivity for muscarinic M-3 receptors relative to other muscarinic receptor subtypes. This profile may, therefore, confer clinical efficacy in the treatment of OAB, with a lower propensity for adverse effects and safety issues related to blockade of other muscarinic receptor subtypes. Indeed, consistent with its low relative affinity for M-1 and M-2 receptors, no effects on cognitive function and heart-rate variability, respectively, have been observed with darifenacin. Subsequent large-scale clinical trials have confirmed that darifenacin (at doses of 7.5 and 15 mg/day) results in central nervous system and cardiac adverse events comparable to placebo, and provides early and meaningful improvement across a range of OAB symptoms including incontinence episodes, urgency and urinary frequency. On the basis of such findings, darifenacin would appear to meet the current need for an effective OAB pharmacotherapy that is efficacious, well-tolerated and, more importantly, minimises the risk of safety-related adverse effects.