Abstract
Felodipine, a dihydropyridine, is a new vasodilating calcium antagonist which lowers blood pressure (BP) by selective action on vascular smooth muscle, especially in the resistance vessels. The effects on BP, heart rate (HR) and tolerance of different single oral doses of felodipine were studied in two series of hypertensive patients. When felodipine was given as single drug to 14 previously untreated hypertensives in a single-blind manner, BP was rapidly reduced by about 15% while HR increased by 25%. Felodipine given in a double-blind manner to eight patients on chronic beta-adrenoceptor blockade reduced BP by some 15-20% compared to placebo, while HR did not change. There was a significant correlation between the pre-treatment mean arterial BP (MAP) and the maximal relative change in MAP, i.e. the higher the initial BP the greater the reduction after felodipine. A significant correlation was also found between the plasma concentration of felodipine and the relative change in MAP. Felodipine was generally well tolerated. When given alone felodipine caused the side effects expected from a pure vasodilator, i.e. headache, flushing and palpitations. When given together with a beta-adrenoceptor blocker, the side effects were much less apparent.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Anderson O., Berglund G., Hansson L., Sannerstedt R., Sivertsson R., Wikstrand J., Wilhelmsen L. Organization and efficacy of an out-patient hypertension clinic. Acta Med Scand. 1978;203(5):391–398. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1978.tb14894.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bostróm S. L., Ljung B., Mårdh S., Forsen S., Thulin E. Interaction of the antihypertensive drug felodipine with calmodulin. Nature. 1981 Aug 20;292(5825):777–778. doi: 10.1038/292777a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fleckenstein A. Specific pharmacology of calcium in myocardium, cardiac pacemakers, and vascular smooth muscle. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol. 1977;17:149–166. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pa.17.040177.001053. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnsson G., Murray G., Tweddel A., Hutton I. Haemodynamic effects of a new vasodilator drug, felodipine, in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1983;24(1):49–53. doi: 10.1007/BF00613926. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Koch-Weser J. Vasodilator drugs in the treatment of hypertension. Arch Intern Med. 1974 Jun;133(6):1017–1027. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lederballe Pedersen O., Christensen N. J., Rämsch K. D. Comparison of acute effects of nifedipine in normotensive and hypertensive man. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1980 Jul-Aug;2(4):357–366. doi: 10.1097/00005344-198007000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Olivari M. T., Bartorelli C., Polese A., Fiorentini C., Moruzzi P., Guazzi M. D. Treatment of hypertension with nifedipine, a calcium antagonistic agent. Circulation. 1979 May;59(5):1056–1062. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.59.5.1056. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ramsey M., 3rd Noninvasive automatic determination of mean arterial pressure. Med Biol Eng Comput. 1979 Jan;17(1):11–18. doi: 10.1007/BF02440948. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Silas J. H., Barker A. T., Ramsay L. E. Clinical evaluation of Dinamap 845 automated blood pressure recorder. Br Heart J. 1980 Feb;43(2):202–205. doi: 10.1136/hrt.43.2.202. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]