TITLE:
Efficacy and Tolerability of Candesartan Cilexetil and Amlodipine in Patients with Poorly Controlled Essential Hypertension
AUTHORS:
Kazuaki Nishio, Takeshi Kondo, Youichi Kobayashi
KEYWORDS:
Amlodipine, Candesartan, Combined Therapy, Hypertension
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Clinical Medicine,
Vol.2 No.2,
May
27,
2011
ABSTRACT: Current treatment guidelines for hypertension in both Europe and the USA stress the importance of aggressive blood pressure control. When monotherapy is not enough to reach treatment targets, there is a need for combination regi-mens that have both high efficacy and good tolerability. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and toler-ability of the combination therapy candesartan and amlodipine in patients with hypertension not satisfactorily controlled by monotherapy. Patients with uncomplicated essential hypertension not satisfactorily controlled by monotherapy, which is candesartan 8 mg or amlodipine 5 mg, were eligible. Candesartan 8 mg and amlodipine 5 mg were given for 12 weeks. 13 patients who received candesartan 8 mg previoursly were assigned to the candesartan group and 8 patients who received amlodipine 5 mg previoursly were assigned to the amlodipine group. Sitting systolic blood pressure (SBP) at baseline was 151.9 ± 11.6 mmHg in the candesartan group, and 154.6 ± 7.6 mmHg in the amlodipine group. Sitting diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was 93.2 ± 13.1 in the candesartan group, and 80.4 ± 14.7 in the amlodipine group. DBP in the amlodipine group was lower than that in the cadesartan group (P = 0.036). After the combination therapy, SBP was significantly reduced in the two groups. DBP showed significant reduction in the amlodipine group. The rate of achieving blood pressure goals was 4% at baseline and significantly increased to 58% after the combination therapy. These results showed that candesartan 8 mg/amlodipine 5 mg are effective lowering blood pressure after 12 weeks in patients not adequately controlled by monotherapy.