Effect of ramipril therapy on cognitive functions in cases of mild to moderate essential hypertension

Several studies have questioned the effect of hypertension on cognitive functions. Event related potentials (P300) have been used as a reliable and reproducible indicator of cognitive functions. In this non-randomized, open label study we investigated cognitive functions using event related potentials in newly diagnosed mild to moderate essential hypertensive patients and whether or not there was any effect of antihypertensive treatment with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor ramipril on the event related potentials. We selected twenty male patients of newly diagnosed mild to moderate essential hypertension by using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring who were previously untreated and compared their event related potentials with 10 normotensive controls. At the beginning of the study, the hypertensive group showed increased P300 and N2 wave latency as compared to the normotensive control subjects. After three months of Ramipril therapy at a dose of 5mg per day, there was a significant decrease in all the ambulatory blood pressure parameters and the mean P300 latency from the pretreatment values. But no significant change in the N2 latency was observed. Thus, treatment with Ramipril 5 mg daily for a period of three months can reverse some aspects of cognitive dysfunction associated with hypertension.