Effects of telmisartan on mild to moderate essential hypertension assessed by 48 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring

AIM To observe the antihypertensive effect of telmisartan and its influence on ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) in mild to moderate essential hypertension by 48 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).METHODS After a 2-week wash out period,71 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension received telmisartan 80 mg once daily for 8 weeks.Twenty-four h ABPM was performed before treatment,and 48 h ABPM was performed after the 8-week treatment.The change of blood pressure and AASI were analyzed.RESULTS A total of 60 valid patients with complete trial enrolled the analysis.After a 8-week treatment,average SBP /DBP after the medication were significantly lower than baseline,either in d 1 ((134 ±s 14) mmHg /(87 ± 8) mmHg vs.(141 ± 14) mmHg /(92 ± 8) mmHg,P 0.01) or in d 2 ((135 ± 14) mmHg /(88 ± 8) mmHg vs.(141 ± 14) mmHg /(92 ± 8) mmHg,P 0.01).Total effective rate was 60% (36 /60) in d 1 and still reached 50% (30 /60) in d 2.In patients with effective treatment,smoothness index (SI) of SBP and DBP reduction were 1.02 and 0.89.While the proportion of patients with early morning hypertension significantly reduced from 69% (25/36) to 57% (14/36) (P 0.01),the average nocturnal DBP of all patients were higher than 60 mmHg.AASI showed a downward trend,but no statistically significant difference (0.48 ± 0.15 vs.0.44 ± 0.18,P 0.05),AASI reduction was closely related to the change of pulse pressure.CONCLUSION Telmisartan 80 mg once daily could provides sustained BP control over 48 h dosing period for mild to moderate hypertension,reduce early morning blood pressure effectively and without excessive decline of nocturnal blood pressure.The effect on AASI need further follow-up.