Endocan, a novel marker of endothelial dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension: comparative effects of amlodipine and valsartan.

Endocan, a novel marker of endothelial dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension: comparative effects of amlodipine and valsartan. Blood Press. 2015 Feb;24(1):55-60 Authors: Celık T, Balta S, Karaman M, Ahmet Ay S, Demırkol S, Ozturk C, Dınc M, Unal HU, Yılmaz MI, Kılıc S, Kurt G, Tas A, Iyısoy A, Quartı-Trevano F, Fıcı F, Grassı G Abstract Vascular inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of hypertension and high levels of endocan may reflect ongoing vascular inflammation in hypertensive patients. In the present hypothesis-generating study, we aimed at investigating the comparative effects of amlodipine and valsartan on endocan levels in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. The study population consisted of 37 untreated hypertensive patients who were randomized to the two treatment arms. After baseline assessment, each patient was randomly allocated to either 10 mg daily of amlodipine (n = 18, 7 males) or 160 mg daily of valsartan (n = 19, 3 males) and treated for a 3-month period. Sphygmomanometric blood pressure (BP) and serum endocan were measured before and every 2 weeks during drug treatment. There was no statistically significant difference between the two treatment arms as far as baseline socio-demographic and clinical characteristics are concerned. After a 3-month treatment period, systolic and diastolic BP values significantly reduced by antihypertensive treatment (p < 0.001). Fu...
Source: Blood Pressure - Category: Hematology Tags: Blood Press Source Type: research