Abstract
To evaluate the efficacy, tolerance, and acceptance of once-daily amlodipine in the control of 24-hour blood pressure (BP), we conducted an open-label, uncontrolled trial in 20 patients (17 men and 3 women) with mild-to-moderate hypertension and without evidence of secondary hypertension except as a result of nephropathy. A 2-week washout placebo period was followed by a 12-week period of active treatment. The starting dose of amlodipine was 5 mg once daily; this was increased to 10 mg once daily if BP was not controlled within 6 weeks of starting treatment. Clinic and ambulatory BP measurements were obtained before starting active treatment (week 0) and then at 6 and 12 weeks after the start of treatment. The mean age (±SD) was 49.2 ± 13.7 years. Mean clinic systolic BP fell from 162.4 ± 15.4 mm Hg at week 0 to 136.8 ± 8.7 mm Hg at week 12. Clinic diastolic BP fell from 102.8 ± 5.1 mm Hg at week 0 to 81.3 ± 6.1 mm Hg at week 12. Ambulatory systolic BP fell from 147.8 ± 8.8 mm Hg at week 0 to 136.0 ± 10.6 mm Hg at week 12. Ambulatory diastolic BP fell from 90.4 ± 4.5 mm Hg at week 0 to 81.0 ± 5.0 mm Hg at week 12. There was a significant reduction in systolic BP between week 0 and week 6 (
P = 0.0001), as well as between week 0 and week 12 (
P = 0.0008). Similarly, significant reductions were obtained in diastolic BP between week 0 and week 6 (
P = 0.0002), as well as between week 0 and week 12 (
P = 0.001). The drug amlodipine was well tolerated and well accepted by patients. The results indicate that monotherapy with amlodipine 5 mg once daily is effective in controlling BP over a 24-hour period.