A trial of isradipine in black patients with arterial hypertension in Zaire

Abstract

The efficacy and tolerability of isradipine 2.5 mg BID were assessed during a 12-week open study of 15 black patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. The patients had a mean (±SD) age of 48 ± 11 years. At baseline, their systolic and diastolic blood pressures, body weight, and heart rate averaged 173 ± 16 mm Hg, 111 ± 8 mm Hg, 72 ± 10 kg, and 74 ± 8 beats/min, respectively. Isradipine administration induced a significant ( P ≤ 0.05) and gradual decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressures that reached 39 ± 14 mm Hg and 23 ± 10 mm Hg, respectively, after 12 weeks. The therapeutic goal (diastolic blood pressure below 90 mm Hg or a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of more than 10 mm Hg) was achieved in 12 (92.3%) of the 13 patients who completed the study. During isradipine therapy, a significant ( P ≤ 0.01) reduction in body weight paralleled the decrease in blood pressure and averaged 1.3 ± 1.5 kg after 12 weeks of therapy. In single and multiple regression analyses, only pretreatment systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly ( P ≤ 0.001) correlated with the concurrent blood pressure changes. No significant alteration in heart rate was observed during therapy. Isradipine was discontinued in two patients because of adverse reactions; it was well tolerated in the remaining patients. Our data indicate that isradipine was an effective and safe first-line drug in the patients entered in this trial. Its hypotensive action was accompanied by long-lasting diuretic and natriuretic effects as judged by the loss in body weight.