Evaluation ofAaspirin, Clopidogrel or Their Combination In Hypertensive Patients

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of aspirin, clopidogrel or their combination on different parameters in hypertensive patients.Platelets adhesion, activation, and aggregation are central to thrombus formation, which follows atherosclerotic plaque disruption and causes acute coronary syndromes. Aspirin and clopidogrel exert their antiplatelet effects by inhibiting thromboxane A2 production and adenosine diphosphate–induced platelet aggregation pathways, respectively. This study was designed to evaluate the possible effects of aspirin and clopidogrel given either alone or in combination in patients with essential hypertension on blood pressure and other parameters in addition to lipid profile using a randomized double blind, crossover clinical study.The study includes 78 hypertensive patients received aspirin 100mg, clopidogrel 75mg or their combination (75mg aspirin &75mg clopidogrel) prior randomization schedule. Systolic, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate,respiratory rate and SPO2 were recorded at weekly intervals while, serum levels of LDL-C, HDL-C and platelets count were recorded at monthly intervals.Significant decline in SBP, DBP in all treatment groups (p<0.05) was recorded, but for pulse rate, there was significant decrease in aspirin group and combination group while for clopidogrel group there was significant increase, also we noticed significant decrease in respiratory rate with aspirin and clopidogrel but this decrease was absent with combination, LDL-C levels were significantly increased during treatment with aspirin or clopidogrel, while theircombination did not show significant changes, HDL-C levels were significantly increased during treatment with aspirin or combination, while clopidogrel didnot show significant changes. We concluded that aspirin, clopidogrel or their combination were effective in decreasing SBP & DBP in hypertensive patients.Secondly, in susceptible individual, combination is better than aspirin and clopidogrel, since no changes observed with combination on respiratory rate.Finally, according to the limits of this study, there was no significant effect of aspirin, clopidogrel or their combination on lipid profile and platelets count.