1998 Volume 21 Issue 3 Pages 215-219
Cilnidipine is a new and unique 1, 4-dihydropyridine calcium antagonist that has both L-type and N-type voltage-dependent calcium channel blocking actions. We compared the effects of cilnidipine and another once-daily dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, nisoldipine, on 24-h blood pressure and heart rate in patients with essential hypertension. We enrolled 10 hypertensive outpatients [9 men and 1 woman; age, 55 ±3 yr (means±SEM)] in this study. Their ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate were monitored for 24h at intervals of 30min with a portable recorder (TM-2425) after 8wk of treatment with ilnidipine (5 to 20mg once daily) and after 8wk of treatment with nisoldipine (5 to 20mg once daily). The order of the two treatments was randomized. Blood pressure and heart rate measurements for a 24-h period were analyzed for four segments of the day: morning (06:00 to 11:30), afternoon (12:00 to 17:30), nighttime (18:00 to 23:30), and sleeping time (0:00 to 5:30). Blood pressure levels were similar during the two treatment periods for each 6-h segment of the day. Heart rate was significantly higher during treatment with nisoldipine than during treatment with cilnidipine in the morning segment [by 4.1±1.3 beats/min (p<0.05)] and the afternoon segment [by 6.4±3.6 beats/min (p<0.05)]. These results suggest that cilnidipine is effective as a once-daily antihypertensive agent and causes reflex tachycardia less than does nisoldipine. (Hypertens Res 1998; 21: 215-219)
