Acebutolol and nifedipine in the treatment of arterial hypertension: efficacy and acceptability

The antihypertensive efficacy and the acceptability of nifedipine (NI, Adalat) and the usefulness of its combination with a beta 1-selective blocking drug, acebutolol (AC), were studied in a placebo controlled trial on 15 patients with moderate hypertension. The study consisted of three phases: 1. An acute test, including the single blind comparison of three different single doses of NI (5, 10, 20 mg), alone and in combination with AC 200 mg, with placebo and with AC alone (200 mg), showed an early hypotensive effect, with no differences for the three doses of NI, reaching the maximum between 50 and 240 min, greater than the one of AC, and smaller in comparison with the one of the combinations, which didn't differ at the three doses of NI. Heart rate (HR) and side effects, instead, increased with the increasing doses of NI, suggesting a worse acceptability for the greater doses. 2. A long-term treatment, including a double-blind comparison of three separate periods of 4 weeks of treatment with NI (10 mg three times a day), AC (200 mg three times a day) and with the combination of the same doses, showed a significant reduction of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) for each treatment, not significantly different at rest for the three single drugs but greater for the combined treatment, assuring also a better control of systolic BP during exercise. A reduced number of side effects was seen with the combined therapy which seems to contribute to a better compliance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)