The aim of this study was to evaluate the long term effects of the selective Ca2+-blocker verapamil on atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels in patients with moderate essential hypertension. The drug was given orally in a daily dose of 300 mg for 30 days. At the end of this clinical trial, plasma ANP levels increased by 16.14% despite the drop in blood pressure while left atrial and ventricular diameters remained unchanged. These findings indicate that the increase of ANP plasma levels is not the result of a mechanical load on the left cardiac chambers but the result of a pharmacological action. These observations also indicate that verapamil exerts part of its antihypertensive action by increasing ANP plasma levels.
Twenty five patients with moderate essential hypertension were studied for 30 days in order to evaluate the medium term effects of carvedilol on atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels. This drug blocks the III and 11 2 adrenenergic receptors as well as III adrenergic receptors. In addition, it has strong antioxidative and antiproliferative properties. The drug was given orally at a dose of 12.5 mg b.i.d, Quantitative determination of human ANP was made by radioimmunoassay procedure (RIA). At the end of this clinical trial, mean plasma levels of ANP had risen during treatment by 21.18% (from 37.60 pg/ml to 45.83 pg/ml) while both systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure as well as diameters of the left cardiac cavities had decreased in a statistically significant way. The ratio ANP/SBP was also increased by 46.6% in a statistically significant way. These findings support the suggestion that the increase in plasma ANP following the administration of Il-adrenergic blockers to hypertensive patients is a primary effect of beta blockade and not a mechanical one secondary to a negative inotropic action on the left ventricle and obviously contributes to the anti-hypertensive action.Major interest has been focused upon the investigation of unconventional methods of the anti-hypertensive action of drugs used for the treatment of arterial hypertension. A strong motive for the interest in this particular subject is derived from the fact that no conventional hemodynamic effect can provide a satisfactory explanation for the chronic long-term anti-hypertensive efficacy of p-adrenergic blockers. The investigation, which was conducted by the research group of the 2 nd Department of Cardiology with the cooperation of the Departments of Pharmacology and Biochemistry at the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, resulted in a number of presentations and publications in Greece and abroad. According to the investigation, ANP seems to be an important mediator between the p-adrenergic blockers and the therapy of arterial hypertension. Since then, interest has been expanded to investigate other antihypertensive agents and their linkage to ANP and the results of such investigation have been confirmative (1-4).Subsequently, it sounded reasonable to investigate a possible role of ANP upon the anti-hypertensive
The aim of this study was to evaluate the medium-term effects of the selective AT1-blocker irbesartan on atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels in patients with moderate essential hypertension. The drug was given orally in a daily dose of 300 mg for 30 days. Plasma ANP levels increased by 15.7% despite the drop in blood pressure and the slight decrease of atrial and ventricular diameters. These findings indicate that AT,-blockers like irbesartan exert part of their antihypertensive action by increasing ANP plasma levels.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.