title: Anti-ischaemic and anti-anginal activity of atenolol, nifedipine and their combination in stable, chronic effort angina.
abstract: To assess the anti-anginal and anti-ischaemic activity of the beta-blocker atenolol (ATN) and the calcium antagonist nifedipine (NIFE) and their combination in coronary patients, a double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled study was performed. Ten male patients (mean age: 58 +/- 2.9 years) suffering from a stable effort angina were studied. The study lasted 14 weeks: after 2 weeks of wash-out, patients were randomly assigned to ATN (100 mg/day) and placebo-NIFE, or placebo-ATN and NIFE (10 mg three times/day), or ATN (100 mg) plus NIFE (10 mg three times/day) for 4 weeks. Maximal symptom-limited stress tests on a bicycle (10 watt/min) during the wash-out period (on days 10 and 14) and at the end of each treatment period were performed. All treatments significantly increased the work load at 1 mm ST depression, the angina threshold and the total work, and reduced ST depression at the maximal common work and at the maximal work. Also the atenolol-nifedipine combination significantly reduced ST depression at maximal common work and maximal work as compared to ATN and NIFE alone. In conclusion, this study confirms the anti-ischaemic and anti-anginal activity of both atenolol and nifedipine in stable effort angina and shows that their combination is able to increase anti-ischaemic activity.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiology, University of Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Onnis
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pirisi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orani
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Delogu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cherchi
mesh_terms: D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001262:Atenolol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015444:Exercise; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009543:Nifedipine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D001262:Atenolol; D009543:Nifedipine