Telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide combination therapy for the treatment of hypertension

Abstract

Background:

Control of elevated blood pressure has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. The angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), telmisartan, has been shown to provide effective 24-hour blood pressure control. Additional antihypertensive efficacy can be achieved by combining telmisartan with the thiazide diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ).

Objective:

To review the clinical data in combination therapy with telmisartan and HCTZ.

Methods:

Search of Medline and Embase for published clinical studies using the keywords telmisartan and HCTZ.

Findings:

The telmisartan/HCTZ combination provides significant reductions in blood pressure, effective 24-hour blood pressure control and is well-tolerated. Blood pressure reductions with this combination are greater than those achieved with either drug alone, and in comparative studies telmisartan/HCTZ is more effective than other ARB/HCTZ combinations. However, it should be noted that some of the combinations assessed used doses of the drugs that were commercially available at the time of the trial and not higher doses that have been shown to have greater antihypertensive efficacy.

Conclusion:

The combination of telmisartan/HCTZ is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for patients with hypertension.

Key words::

• Angiotensin receptor antagonists
• Blood pressure
• Cardiovascular events
• Hydrochlorothiazide
• Telmisartan
• Thiazide diuretics

Transparency

Declaration of funding

The authors have disclosed that they received no compensation related to the development of the manuscript.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

The authors have disclosed that they have been members of an ONTARGET advisory board supported by Boehringer Ingelheim. S.E.K. has disclosed that he serves as a consultant for AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck and Takeda. He also has received lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Takeda, Novartis, Pfizer, sanofi-aventis, Sankyo and Servier.

Some peer reviewers receive honoraria from CMRO for their review work. The peer reviewers of this paper have disclosed that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Acknowledgements

Writing and editorial assistance was provided by Chris Langford, PhD, of PAREXEL MMS, which was contracted by Boehringer Ingelheim for these services.

The authors meet criteria for authorship as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and were fully responsible for all content and editorial decisions, and were involved at all stages of manuscript development.