Efficacy and Safety of a Single-Pill Fixed-Dose Combination of Azilsartan and Amlodipine.
BACKGROUND
Guidelines for the management of hypertension recommend the use of drugs with different mechanisms of action in antihypertensive regimens that include single-pill fixed-dose combinations of medications. There is some controversy regarding which single-pill fixed-dose combinations of angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) and calcium channel blockers (CCBs) are effective at reducing blood pressure (BP).


METHODS
Forty hypertensive patients who were receiving a single-pill fixed-dose combination of valsartan 80 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day or irbesartan 100 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day were enrolled. They were randomly divided into two treatment groups, a group that changed to a single-pill fixed-dose combination of azilsartan 20 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day (changeover group) and a group that continued to receive valsartan 80 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day or irbesartan 100 mg/day and amlodipine 5 mg/day (control group), and treated for 16 weeks.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) or pulse rate (PR) at 16 weeks between the control and changeover groups. In addition, there were no significant changes in biochemical parameters throughout the study period in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The ability of a single-pill fixed-dose combination of azilsartan and amlodipine to reduce BP may be comparable to that of a combination of valsartan and amlodipine or irbesartan and amlodipine.
Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan; Izumi General Medical Center, Kagoshima, Japan.
Kota
K
Motozato
Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan; Department of Molecular Cardiovascular Therapeutics, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
Shin-Ichiro
SI
Miura
Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
Yuhei
Y
Shiga
Izumi General Medical Center, Kagoshima, Japan.
Takaaki
T
Kusumoto
Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan; Department of Molecular Cardiovascular Therapeutics, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
Keijiro
K
Saku
Angiotensin II type 1; Blockers; Blood pressure; Calcium channel; Receptor