Evaluation of the 24-hour blood pressure effects of eprosartan in patients with systemic hypertension

Background Eprosartan is a new nonphenyl angiotensin II receptor blocker, which has been approved for the treatment of hypertension. Although the drug has a relatively short plasma half-life of 5 to 9 h, clinical studies have suggested that its antihypertensive effect persists for 24 h. Methods We assessed both the changes in 24-h and trough blood pressure (BP) (last 4 h of the ambulatory BP while the patient was awake) of eprosartan at doses of 600 and 1200 mg once daily in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ambulatory BP was monitored at placebo baseline and after 8 weeks of double-blind therapy. Results Two hundred patients randomized in the study with 177 patients completing the trial. The 24-h change in BP from baseline was 0.2/0.1 ± 1.4/1.0 mm Hg, −7.9/−5.4 ± 1.0 mm Hg (P< .0001), and −7.4/−5.0 ± 0.9 mm Hg (P< .0001) in the placebo, 600-mg eprosartan, and 1200-mg eprosartan groups, respectively. Changes in trough ambulatory BP showed significant reductions of −6.3/−4.1 ± 1.6/1.1 mm Hg and −7.7/−5.5 ± 1.5/1.0 mm Hg for 600 mg of eprosartan and 1200 mg of eprosartan, respectively. Conclusions These data demonstrate that eprosartan at doses of 600 or 1200 mg significantly reduced BP throughout an entire 24-h dosing period. There were no differences between the 600- and 1200-mg dose; thus, 600 mg once daily should be the only dose used in the treatment of hypertension with eprosartan.