Home About us Contact | |||
Amlodipine Alone (amlodipine + alone)
Selected AbstractsEffects of Valsartan or Amlodipine Alone or in Combination on Plasma Catecholamine Levels at Rest and During Standing in Hypertensive PatientsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION, Issue 3 2007FRCPC, Jacques de Champlain MD To compare the effects of valsartan and amlodipine alone or in combination on plasma norepinephrine (NE) at rest and standing for 10 minutes in patients with hypertension, 47 patients with a sitting diastolic blood pressure (BP) (DBP) >95 mm Hg and <110 mm Hg were randomized in a double-blind fashion to either valsartan or amlodipine. During the first 4 weeks of treatment, patients received a low dose of either valsartan (80 mg) or amlodipine (5 mg). The patients were force-titrated to the high dose of either drug (160 or 10 mg) for 4 weeks. After 8 weeks of therapy, those who still had a DBP >90 mm Hg (nonresponders) received combination therapy with the other drug, whereas patients with a DBP <90 mm Hg (responders) continued on monotherapy. Decreases in ambulatory BP and clinic systolic BP and DBP were significant (P<.05) after 8 weeks' therapy with no difference between the 2 groups. Amlodipine but not valsartan as monotherapy consistently increased NE levels at rest and enhanced NE levels during standing. Valsartan decreased basal NE in responders. Combination therapy with valsartan and amlodipine did not attenuate the rise in NE levels induced by amlodipine. This study indicates that therapy with amlodipine increases peripheral sympathetic basal tone and reactivity to standing in patients with hypertension, whereas valsartan does not. Combined therapy with amlodipine/valsartan did not attenuate the sympathetic activation induced by amlodipine. The hypotensive action of valsartan may be mediated in part by an inhibition of the sympathetic baroreflex in patients with hypertension. [source] Antihypertensive Efficacy of the Oral Direct Renin Inhibitor Aliskiren as Add-On Therapy in Patients Not Responding to Amlodipine MonotherapyJOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION, Issue 10 2007Waymon Drummond MD This study investigated the addition of the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren to amlodipine in patients with mild to moderate hypertension that was inadequately controlled with amlodipine alone. Following once-daily treatment with amlodipine 5 mg for 4 weeks, patients whose hypertension responded inadequately to therapy (mean sitting diastolic blood pressure [DBP] 90,109 mm Hg) (n=545) were randomized to 6 weeks of double-blind treatment with amlodipine 5 mg plus aliskiren 150 mg, amlodipine 5 mg, or amlodipine 10 mg. At the study's end, mean systolic blood pressure and DBP reductions with the combination of aliskiren 150 mg and amlodipine 5 mg (11.0/8.5 mm Hg) were significantly greater (P<.0001) than with amlodipine 5 mg (5.0/4.8 mm Hg),the comparator group,but similar to amlodipine 10 mg (9.6/8.0 mm Hg). All treatments were well tolerated. Edema occurred more frequently with amlodipine 10 mg (11.2%) than with combination therapy (2.1%) or amlodipine 5 mg (3.4%). In conclusion, aliskiren 150 mg plus amlodipine 5 mg shows similar but not better blood pressure-lowering efficacy when compared with amlodipine 10 mg in patients not completely responsive to amlodipine 5 mg; less edema was noted with combination therapy. [source] Effects of Valsartan or Amlodipine Alone or in Combination on Plasma Catecholamine Levels at Rest and During Standing in Hypertensive PatientsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPERTENSION, Issue 3 2007FRCPC, Jacques de Champlain MD To compare the effects of valsartan and amlodipine alone or in combination on plasma norepinephrine (NE) at rest and standing for 10 minutes in patients with hypertension, 47 patients with a sitting diastolic blood pressure (BP) (DBP) >95 mm Hg and <110 mm Hg were randomized in a double-blind fashion to either valsartan or amlodipine. During the first 4 weeks of treatment, patients received a low dose of either valsartan (80 mg) or amlodipine (5 mg). The patients were force-titrated to the high dose of either drug (160 or 10 mg) for 4 weeks. After 8 weeks of therapy, those who still had a DBP >90 mm Hg (nonresponders) received combination therapy with the other drug, whereas patients with a DBP <90 mm Hg (responders) continued on monotherapy. Decreases in ambulatory BP and clinic systolic BP and DBP were significant (P<.05) after 8 weeks' therapy with no difference between the 2 groups. Amlodipine but not valsartan as monotherapy consistently increased NE levels at rest and enhanced NE levels during standing. Valsartan decreased basal NE in responders. Combination therapy with valsartan and amlodipine did not attenuate the rise in NE levels induced by amlodipine. This study indicates that therapy with amlodipine increases peripheral sympathetic basal tone and reactivity to standing in patients with hypertension, whereas valsartan does not. Combined therapy with amlodipine/valsartan did not attenuate the sympathetic activation induced by amlodipine. The hypotensive action of valsartan may be mediated in part by an inhibition of the sympathetic baroreflex in patients with hypertension. [source] Additive beneficial effects of amlodipine and atorvastatin in reversing advanced cardiac hypertrophy in elderly spontaneously hypertensive ratsCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 11 2009Jing-Chao Lu Summary 1Additive beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease have been reported for amlodipine and atorvastatin. However, it is still unclear whether the combination of amlodipine and atorvastatin has additive beneficial effects on the regression of advanced cardiac hypertrophy in hypertension. In the present study, the effects of the drug combination on advanced cardiac hypertrophy were investigated in elderly spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). 2Elderly SHR (36 weeks old) were randomly allocated into four groups of 12: (i) a vehicle-treated control group; (ii) an amlodipine (10 mg/kg per day)-treated group; (iii) an atorvastatin (10 mg/kg per day)-treated group; and (iv) a group treated with a combination of amlodipine and atorvastatin (both at 10 mg/kg per day). Drugs were administered by oral gavage every morning for a period of 12 weeks before hearts were harvested for analysis. 3Combined administration of amlodipine and atorvastatin significantly suppressed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis and upregulation of hypertrophic and profibrotic genes, and also improved left ventricular diastolic dysfunction to a greater extent than did amlodipine monotherapy. Further beneficial effects of combination therapy on advanced cardiac hypertrophy were associated with a greater reduction of NADPH oxidase-mediated increases in cardiac reactive oxygen species (ROS), rather than decreased blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels. 4To elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms, we examined cardiovascular NADPH oxidase subunits and found that amlodipine clearly attenuated the expression of p47phox and p40phox and slightly but significantly reduced p22phox and Rac-1 levels in heart tissue. Combination treatment with amlodipine plus atorvastatin led to a further reduction in p22phox, p47phox and Rac-1 protein levels compared with amlodipine alone. 5In conclusion, combined amlodipine and atorvastatin treatment has a greater beneficial effect on advanced cardiac hypertrophy compared with amlodipine monotherapy. The benefits are likely to be related to the additive effects of the drugs on the suppression of NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS generation. [source] Enalapril/amlodipine combination in cyclosporine-treated renal transplant recipients: a prospective randomized trialCLINICAL TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 2 2007Jean-Michel Halimi Abstract:, Background:, Most hypertensive renal transplant recipients require two or more antihypertensive medications to achieve blood pressure control. However, which medications must be combined is still a matter of debate. Methods:, A prospective randomized open-label blinded evaluation trial comparing the six-month effects of the amlodipine,enalapril combination (n = 32) vs. enalapril alone (n = 33) and vs. amlodipine alone (n = 34) on arterial pressure, renal function, albuminuria and tolerability. Results:, At six months, diastolic arterial pressure was more adequately controlled (i.e., <90 mmHg) in the combination group than in the amlodipine and enalapril groups (100% vs. 82.4% and 84.8%, respectively, p = 0.038). The same trend was observed for systolic arterial pressure (65.6% vs. 58.8% and 51.5%, NS). The six-month change in albuminuria was similar in the combination group and in the enalapril group (,64.7% vs. ,59.5%); however, patients in the combination group exhibited a greater reduction in albuminuria than in the amlodipine group (,64.7% vs. ,29.0%, p = 0.002). As compared with baseline values, serum creatinine and potassium remained unchanged in the combination group, whereas they increased by 9 ± 12 ,mol/L (p = 0.01) and by 0.2 ± 0.4 mmol/L (p < 0.01), respectively, in the enalapril group. The cyclosporine trough levels remained unchanged in the combination group, but increased in the amlodipine group. Conclusion:, Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI),calcium-channel blocker (CCB) combination controls arterial pressure more adequately than ACEI alone or CCB alone, reduces albuminuria and may prevent the ACEI-induced initial rise in serum creatinine. [source] |