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| English: Blood pressure measurement. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Hypertension. 2006 Aug;48(2):246-53. Epub 2006 Jun 26.
Effects of a new hormone therapy, drospirenone and 17-beta-estradiol, in postmenopausal women with hypertension.
Source
Division of Hypertension and Clinical Pharmacology, The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, 263 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT 06030-3940, USA. wwhite@nso1.uchc.eduAbstract
Drospirenone
(DRSP), a progestin with antialdosterone activity, has been developed
for hormone therapy in combination with 17-beta-estradiol (E2) in
postmenopausal women. We evaluated the antihypertensive efficacy and
safety of various doses of DRSP and E2 and estradiol alone in
postmenopausal women with hypertension using ambulatory and clinic blood
pressure (BP) monitoring. This was a randomized, double-blind clinical
trial of 3 doses of DRSP combined with estradiol, estradiol alone, and
placebo in 750 postmenopausal women with stage 1 to 2 hypertension
between 45 to 75 years. Ambulatory and clinic BPs, potassium,
aldosterone, and lipid measurements and adverse events were evaluated in
postmenopausal women with stages 1 to 2 hypertension during 8 weeks of
double-blind therapy. DRSP and E2 induced dose-related reductions in the
ambulatory and clinic systolic BP with physiological increases in serum
aldosterone. Significant decreases in 24-hour systolic pressure were
observed at doses of 2 and 3 mg of DRSP combined with estradiol but not
by estradiol alone or 1 mg of DRSP with estradiol. There were no
significant changes from baseline in potassium in any treatment group.
Small, significant reductions in total and low-density lipoprotein
cholesterol occurred on all of the active treatments, and serum
triglycerides did not change. Adverse event rates were low and similar
across treatment groups. In conclusion, these data show that DRSP
combined with E2 significantly reduces BP in postmenopausal women with
hypertension and did not induce significant increases in serum
potassium. These characteristics may lead to a new benefit for this
novel hormone therapy in postmenopausal women with hypertension.
Comment in
- Antihypertensive effects of drospirenone and 17beta-estradiol in hypertensive postmenopausal women. [Curr Hypertens Rep. 2007]
- Drospirenone: an antihypertensive in waiting. [Hypertension. 2006]
- A new hormone therapy with drospirenone and NO production in postmenopausal women. [Hypertension. 2006]
