Vol 15, No 1 (2011)
Original paper
Published online: 2011-04-18

open access

Page views 538
Article views/downloads 1265
Get Citation

Connect on Social Media

Connect on Social Media

The effect of one-month amlodipine treatment on plasma endothelin-1 concentration in hypertensive patients

Hanna Kara-Perz, Teresa Kosicka, Jerzy Głuszek, Stanisław Perz
Nadciśnienie tętnicze 2011;15(1):5-12.

Abstract


Background Endothelium and smooth muscle protection after calcium antagonists (Ca-A) are markedly related to several mechanisms, among which the influence on endothelin- 1 (a substance regarded as the most powerful endogenous vasoconstrictor) seem to be very important. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of amlodipine (dihydropyridine Ca-A, III generation) on plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) and serum aldosterone (Ald) concentration in patients with essential arterial hypertension (EH).
Material and methods The study population included 39 patients (18 women and 21 men) with EH in stage I according to WHO classification. Selection criteria excluded patients with a secondary form of arterial hypertension and any additional diseases influencing ET-1 plasma concentration.
In all of the patients the following parameters were assessed:
— SBP — systolic blood pressure;
— DBP — diastolic blood pressure;
— ET-1 — endothelin-1 plasma concentration;
— Ald — aldosterone serum concentration; before (I study) and after 30-day treatment with amlodipine in dose 5 mg/day (II study).
Results 30-day treatment with amlodipine (5 mg/day) led to:
1. Significant decrease of SBP (Mean ± SD: I study: 160.17 ± 9.76 vs II study: 131.78 ± 11.83 mm Hg, p = 0.0000001).
2. Significant decrease of DBP (Mean ± SD: I study: 93.58 ± 7.71 vs II study: 74.17 ± 10.03 mm Hg, p = 0.0000001).
3. Non-significant decrease of ET-1 conc. (Median ± S I study: 83.3 ± 23.9 vs II study: 78.7 ± 20.85 pg/ml, p = = 0.102).
4. Non-significant increase of Ald conc. (Median ± S I study: 125.9 ± 66.53 vs II study: 158.49 ± 76.15 pg/ml, p = 0.52).
Conclusion 30-day treatment of essential hypertensive patients with amlodipine in dose 5 mg/day induced a nonsignificant decrease of ET-1 concentration, which may be important for the therapeutic use of amlodipine in everyday practice. However, it should be also noted that our data were collected from a relatively small group of patients (39), and probably need to be confirmed in larger population sample.
Arterial Hypertension 2011, vol. 15, no 1, pages 5–12

Article available in PDF format

View PDF (Polish) Download PDF file