Renoprotective effects of benazepril: current perspective

Cardiovascular (CV) disease, its associated risk factors and continued progression run in parallel with renal deterioration (cardio-renal syndrome). Most guidelines promote early treatment, including the use of ACE inhibitors to control CV risk in patients with chronic renal failure. The renoprotective effects of the ACE inhibitor, benazepril, independent of blood pressure control, have been demonstrated, as monotherapy or in combination with amlodipine or hydrochlorothiazide, in large clinical trials: Avoiding Cardiovascular Events through Combination Therapy in Patients Living with Systolic Hypertension (ACCOMPLISH) and Gauging Albuminuria Reduction with Lotrel in Diabetic Patients with Hypertension (GUARD) in patients with mild-to-severe chronic kidney disease. In the ACCOMPLISH trial, CV outcomes and renoprotective effects were greater in patients receiving benazepril in combination with amlodipine; the GUARD trial demonstrated that combined benazepril/hydrochlorothiazide was more effective than amlodipine combined with benazepril in reducing baseline urinary albumin:creatinine ratio and normalizing urinary albumin:creatinine ratio in patients with baseline microalbuminuria, although this effect was accompanied with a greater decrease in glomerular filtration rate than with benazepril/amlodipine. While this is not a study in patients with overt renal disease (patients had severe CV diseases), the ACCOMPLISH trial is the first large study to date to show the added benefit of combining ACE inhibitors and calcium-channel blockers in renal protection. Future large, well-controlled trials, designed to evaluate hard renal outcomes, are required to identify which patients will benefit most from particular combination treatment strategies in renoprotection.