title: Cerebral blood flow is not altered by treatment with nitrendipine in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.
abstract: We evaluated the effects of nitrendipine, a calcium antagonist of the dihydropyridine group, on cerebral blood flow (CBF) in nine patients with mild to moderate hypertension. The CBF was determined under placebo, 2 h after the first dose (short term) and after 4 weeks (long term) of regular nitrendipine treatment. The CBF was determined using the xenon-133 method. All patients were on placebo for 2-4 weeks before nitrendipine administration. The mean age was 48 years (range of 35-67 years). Blood pressure fell from 169 +/- 19/110 +/- 16 to 147 +/- 12/94 +/- 11 mm Hg after the first dose and to 140 +/- 12/92 +/- 9 mm Hg after long-term administration (p less than 0.01). The corresponding CBF did not change significantly from 37.5 +/- 4.8 ml/100 g/min before to 38.7 +/- 4.5 ml/100 g/min 2 h after the first dose and 38.1 +/- 6.0 ml/100 g/min after long-term administration of nitrendipine (p = 0.3 and p = 0.8, respectively). In conclusion, nitrendipine did not alter the CBF of mildly to moderately hypertensive patients. Particularly, the CBF was maintained during short-term and long-term administration despite significant blood pressure reduction.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Universitäts-Poliklinik, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rüttimann
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Noll
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dreifuss
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Müller-Brand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009568:Nitrendipine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016037:Single-Blind Method
chemical_list: D009568:Nitrendipine