ANTIHYPERTENSIVE EFFECT OF LEVCROMAKALIM IN PATIENTS WITH ESSENTIAL-HYPERTENSION - STUDY BY 24-H AMBULATORY BLOOD-PRESSURE MONITORING

Levcromakalim (BRL 38227, CAS 94535-50-9) is a new antihypertensive dr ug with vasodilator activity due to activation of potassium channels i n vascular smooth muscle. In this study, we treated 14 patients with e ssential hypertension on art out-patient basis to investigate the anti hypertensive effect of levcromakalim by 24-h blood pressure monitoring for a 12-weeks treatment period Levcromakalim significantly lowered b lood pressure far 24 h without affecting standard deviation, range of variation and pulse rate. When 24-h monitoring period was divided into daytime (6:00-22:00) and nighttime (22:30-5:30), there were no statis tically significant differences in magnitude of fall in blood pressure at night between baseline and end of treatment values. Four patients (28.5 %) reported 6 adverse events including headache, facial hot flus hes, oedema and floating feeling. All symptoms were mild or moderate. These data show that levcromakalim controls ambulatory blood pressure both in the daytime and nighttime without changing the circadian rhyth m of blood pressure, and suggest that levcromakalim will be an efficac ious and safe antihypertensive drug.