
Effects Of Atenolol And Nebivolol On Blood Pressure And On ECG In Patients Of Stage-1 Hypertension A Comparative Study
925-931
Correspondence
Dr.Rashmi Sharma MBBS.MD, DMCH(Pharmacology) Senior Demonstrator, Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics Govt. Medical college Jammu, India.
Background:ß-blockers are used as first line antihypertensive drugs.
Aim:To compare the effects of atenolol and nebivolol on blood pressure and ECG in patients of Stage 1 hypertension.
Setting: This study was conducted by the departments of pharmacology and general medicine of a tertiary care teaching hospital in India.
Study Design:Prospective single blind randomized trial over 6 months.
Materials and Methods:Of the 102 patients randomized for the trial (atenolol n=50, nebivolol n=52), 26 patients were lost to follow-up. The 76 patients, who attended the three reviews at 3, 6 and 12 weeks following recruitment to the trial, were included for analysis. During each of the follow up visits, blood pressure and ECG were recorded. Corrected QT interval (QTc) was calculated using the Bazett's formula. The effect of each drug at 3, 6 and 12 weeks were compared with the baseline and were analysed using the paired ¡¥t¡¦ test, whilst the comparison between the two drugs (baseline, 3, 6 and 12 weeks) was performed using the unpaired ¡¥t¡¦test.
Results:Both the drugs significantly reduced (P<0.001) systolic and diastolic blood pressure during the follow-up visits. QTc was significantly reduced from baseline values at 3, 6 and 12 weeks of therapy with atenolol, but only at 6 weeks with nebivolol.
Conclusion:Both atenolol and nebivolol appear to have similar antihypertensive effects in the short term. The effect of the anti-hypertensive agent on QTc appears to be more pronounced with atenolol than with nebivolol.