title: Aldosterone antagonist improves diastolic function in essential hypertension.
abstract: Experimental studies demonstrated that mineralocorticoid antagonists prevent or reverse myocardial fibrosis. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that the aldosterone antagonist canrenone can improve left ventricular diastolic function in essential hypertension. Using digitized M-mode echocardiography and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), we realized a prospective, randomized, controlled study on 34 never-treated essential hypertensives with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Echocardiogram and ABPM were repeated after 6 months of effective antihypertensive treatment with ACE inhibitors and calcium antagonists (second evaluation) and then after a 6-month period with 17 patients randomly assigned to add canrenone 50 mg/d to the previous treatment (third evaluation). At the basal evaluation 32 patients had left ventricular concentric hypertrophy, and 2 patients had left ventricular concentric remodeling. All the patients had normal left ventricular systolic function. At the second evaluation blood pressure was reduced (P<0.0001), left ventricular mass index decreased (P<0.0001), and diastolic function improved (P<0.0001). After randomization, the canrenone and control groups had similar 24-hour blood pressure and left ventricular morpho-functional characteristics. At the third evaluation, despite unchanged blood pressure and similar decrease of left ventricular mass index, the canrenone group, compared with control group, showed a significantly greater increase in left ventricular diastolic indices. In essential hypertension, a low dose of aldosterone antagonist added to antihypertensive treatment significantly improved left ventricular diastolic function. This improvement, not accounted for by changes in blood pressure and left ventricular mass, can be therefore ascribed to a direct action of the drug on the myocardium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy. amgrandi@libero.it
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Grandi
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Imperiale
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santillo
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barlocco
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolini
authors.forename: Luigina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guasti
authors.forename: Achille
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venco
mesh_terms: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; D002192:Canrenone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003971:Diastole / Q000187:drug effects*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004452:Echocardiography; D006321:Heart / Q000187:drug effects; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000451:Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D000451:Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonists; D002192:Canrenone