Effect of Irbesartan on Left Ventricular Hypertrophy and Plasma BNP Level in Essential Hypertension

【Objective】To study the effect of irbesartan on reversing left ventricular remodeling and plasma brain natriuretic peptide(BNP) in essential hypertension(EH).【Methods】There were 80 cases of EH,46 of whom with left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH) as the LVH group,other 34 without LVH as the non-LVH group and another 30 with baseline characteristics as the control group.Both the LVH group and non-LVH group were given irbesartan 75~150 mg,qd,for six months.The left ventricular mass index(LVMI) was measured by echocardiography pre-and post-therapy,and plasma BNP was tested by ELISA pre-and post-therapy in all cases.【Results】Before therapy there was a significant difference among the three groups in the plasma level of BNP,and level of plasma BNP of LVH group was significantly higher than that of non-LVH group.After six-month therapy of irbesartan,the LVMI of LVH group decreased significantly.Both the LVH group and the non-LVH group had a significant decrease in the level of plasma of BNP.There was a positive correlation between the LVMI and plasma level of BNP in the LVH group(r= 0.645,P0.05),but there was no correlation between the LVMI and plasma level of BNP in the non-LVH group.【Conclusion】A long-term therapy of irbesartan can reverse left ventricular remodeling in the EH effectively and also can prevent the incidence of LVH.Plasma level of BNP is a good predictor of left ventricular remodeling of EH.