Inpharma 1311 - 27 Oct 2001

■ Antihypertensive therapy with irbesartan oratenolol improves endothelial function in patientswith hypertension, according to researchers fromSweden. In their randomised study, 34 such patientsreceived irbesartan 150–300mg or atenolol 50–100mgonce daily for 3 months, after a placebo run-in periodof 2–4-weeks. * Both drugs improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDV), as shown by theresponse to a regional intra-arterial infusion ofmethacholine, but not endothelium-independentvasodilation, as shown by the response to a regionalintra-arterial infusion of sodium nitroprusside. Theeffect on EDV was statistically significant when datafor the 2 drugs were combined.* The study was supported by Bristol-Myers-Squibb, US andSanofi-Synthelabo, France.

von zur Muhlen B, et al. Treatment with irbesartan or atenolol improvesendothelial function in essential hypertension. Journal of Hypertension 19:1813-1818, Oct 2001 800881269

1

Inpharma 27 Oct 2001 No. 13111173-8324/10/1311-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved