The Effects of Twice Daily Captopril and Once Daily Enalapril on Ambulatory Intraarterial Blood Pressure in Essential Hypertension

Abstract

Intraarterial ambulatory pressure (AP) was recorded before and during therapy with captopril or enalapril in two groups with hypertension. Seven patients were admitted during the study. The. monitoring of AP and heart rate (HR) was performed during placebo therapy and following a minimum period of 7 days of 25 mg twice daily captopril or 2.5 to 10 mg once daily enalapril. The AP and HR following percutaneous insertion of a cannula into the brachial artery were sampled then data were analyzed as reported previously.

After the cannula was inserted, examinations of tilt-up, handgrip and ergometer were performed. Both drugs produced a significant reduction of ambulatory AP throughout 24 hours with preservation of the overall shape of the circadian curve. The results also demonstrated that both drugs had not affected normal daily activities. Thus, twice daily captopril and once daily enalapril can be used as the first-line therapy of hypertension.

Key Words:

• ambulatory blood pressure
• captopril
• enalapril
• essential hypertension