Nicardipine hydrochloride in essential hypertension--a controlled study

Abstract

Fifty patients with mild essential (primary) hypertension entered a double-blind, parallel-group study with either nicardipine 30 mg three times daily or placebo, randomly assigned as monotherapy for 6 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, the nicardipine-treated group had a statistically significant reduction in mean supine systolic/diastolic pressure of 21.2/15.0 mm Hg (P less than 0.001) compared with the nonsignificant reduction of 0.7/2.9 mm Hg in the placebo-treated group. The difference in mean response between the nicardipine- and placebo-treated groups was significant (P less than 0.001). In the nicardipine-treated group, the reduction in mean standing systolic/diastolic blood pressure, 17.9/13.8 mm Hg, was significant (P less than 0.001), whereas in the placebo-treated group the change was +3.0/-1.5 mm Hg. The difference between the two treatment groups was significant (P less than 0.001). In both treatment groups, changes in pulse rate were minor, and there was no evidence of tachyphylaxis occurring with nicardipine. Adverse experiences were minor in all cases except for one patient with muscle pain during treatment with nicardipine. Patients who received nicardipine showed a mean increase of 52% in plasma renin activity (PRA) after 6 weeks (P less than 0.01). Initial basal or stimulated PRA did not correlate with blood pressure reduction on nicardipine. Nicardipine 30 mg three times daily is a well-tolerated and effective antihypertensive agent.