Efficacy of clonidine in patients with essential hypertension with neurovascular contact of the rostral ventrolateral medulla.
The rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) is an important center for regulation of sympathetic nerve activity. Several clinical studies have suggested an association between neurovascular contact (NVC) of RVLM and essential hypertension. Microvascular decompression (MVD) of RVLM decreases blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients with NVC of this region. Therefore, MVD could be a useful therapeutic strategy to reduce BP in these patients. However, as MVD is an invasive procedure, it is worthy to seek useful antihypertensive agents for hypertensive patients with NVC. It is reported that sympathetic nerve activity is elevated in patients with hypertension accompanied by NVC of RVLM. It is anticipated that sympatholytic agents could be effective in lowering BP in these patients. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of clonidine, an alpha2 adrenergic agonist, in essential hypertensives with NVC of RVLM. Thirty consecutive essential hypertensive patients with NVC and 30 consecutive essential hypertensive patients without contact were treated with clonidine for 4 weeks, and decreases in BP and plasma norepinephrine levels were compared between the two groups. Decreases in BP and plasma norepinephrine levels were significantly greater in patients with NVC than in those without contact. These results suggest that clonidine exhibits significantly greater reductions of BP and sympathetic nerve activity in essential hypertensive patients with NVC compared with those without contact of the rostral ventrolateral medulla.
Sakuma
Takao
T
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan. sakumat@hirakata.kmu.ac.jp
Morimoto
Satoshi
S
Aota
Yasuko
Y
Takahashi
Nobuyuki
N
Toyoda
Nagaoki
N
Kosaki
Atsushi
A
Maehara
Minoru
M
Tanigawa
Noboru
N
Ikeda
Koshi
K
Sawada
Satoshi
S
Iwasaka
Toshiji
T
D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D003000:Clonidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013565:Sympatholytics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D013565:Sympatholytics; D003000:Clonidine; D009638:Norepinephrine