Double-blind comparison of amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide in patients with mild to moderate hypertension

Amlodipine, a new long-acting dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, was compared with hydrochlorothiazie (HCTZ) in 145 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. After 4 weeks of single-blind placebo runin, patients were randomly allocated to receive amlodipine (2.5-10 mg once daily, n = 97) or HCTZ (25-100 mg once daily, n = 48). At study week 12 response rates for amlodipine and HCTZ were 61.5 and 60.5%, respectively. There were clinically significant reductions in 24-h postdose blood pressures with both amlodipine (-18/-11 mm Hg supine: -14/-10 mm Hg standing) and HCTZ (-18/-10 mm Hg supine, -18/-9 mm Hg standing). After study week 12, atenolol (50-100 mg once daily) was added to the regimen of those patients whose hypertension was not controlled with monotherapy. Neither amlodipine nor HCTZ produced clinically significant changes in pulse rate, electrocardiogram, or chest x-ray film. Although amlodipine increased and HCTZ decreased the high-density lipoprotein (HDL)/total cholesterol ratio and the HDL/(low-density lipoprotein + very-low-density lipoprotein) ratio, the difference between the two treatments was not statistically significant. The incidence of side effects and the rate of patient withdrawal was comparable in the two groups. The incidence of laboratory abnormalities was 56% with HCTZ (mainly hypokalemia and hyperuricemia) and 16% with amlodipine. Amlodipine was an effective, well-tolerated agent for treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension in this study, as single-daily-dose monotherapy and in combination with atenolol.