Sixteen Japanese patients of both sexes aged 46-78 years with essential hypertension were studied at the cardiac clinic of the Department of Cardiology, Shizuoka General Hospital, Shizuoka, Japan. Serum lipids, lipoproteins, plasma fibrinolytic parameters, renin and noradrenaline were determined before and after 3 months of cilnidipine treatment. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate were reduced while renin and noradrenaline levels remained unchanged after cilnidipine treatment. Total cholesterol and tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and t-PA-PAI-1 complex were reduced. Changes in the other lipids, lipoproteins and fibrinolytic parameters were not significant after cilnidipine treatment. A negative correlation was found between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and t-PA antigen levels after cilnidipine treatment. In conclusion, cilnidipine was effective for the treatment of hypertension and did not cause reflex tachycardia in Japanese patients. Cilnidipine treatment produced a beneficial lipid profile (decrease in total cholesterol), but did not show a consistent effect on fibrinolytic parameters in hypertensive patients. The metabolic interaction between beneficial lipid changes and fibrinolysis will be of value to better our understanding of the antiatherogenic effects of cilnidipine treatment in hypertensive patients.
Aged Antihypertensive Agents