Endocan, a novel marker of endothelial dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension: Comparative effects of amlodipine and valsartan

Figures & data

Figure 1. Effects of a 3-month treatment with amlodipine or valsartan on sphygmomanometric systolic (S, upper panel) and diastolic (D, lower panel) blood pressure values. Data are shown as medians (25–75%).

Table I. Baseline demographic, clinical and laboratory data of the study patients.

	Amlodipine (n = 18)	Valsartan (n = 19)	p
Age (years)	46 (42–56)	47 (38–51)	< 0.510
Gender (M), n (%)	7 (39)	3 (16)	< 0.151
BMI (kg/m^2)	30 (28–32)	29 (26–34)	< 0.855
Smoking, n (%)	3 (17)	6 (32)	< 0.226
Alcohol use, n (%)	1 (5.5)	0 (0)	< 1.000
Dyslipidemia, n (%)	0 (0)	1 (5.3)	< 1.000
Aspirin use, n (%)	0 (0)	1 (5.3)	< 1.000
Statin use, n (%)	0 (0)	1 (5.3)	< 1.000
Glucose (mg/dl)	95 (90–104)	94 (89–102)	< 0.595
Urea (mg/dl)	26 (21–31)	30 (22–34)	< 0.229
Creatinine (mg/dl)	0.87 (0.78–0.94)	0.85 (0.78–0.91)	< 0.503
Total cholesterol (mg/dl)	210 (195–241)	230 (201–255)	< 0.334
Triglyceride (mg/dl)	135 (101–188)	122 (97–172)	< 0.605
Hemoglobin (g/dl)	14.5 (14–16)	14.3 (14–15)	< 0.594
WBC (× 10^9/l)	6.95 (5.47–7.77)	6.90 (6.30–8.30)	< 0.475
Platelets count (× 10^9/l)	249 (207–266)	263 (229–302)	< 0.171
Endocan (ng/l)	185 (134–463)	193 (129–376)	< 0.540

Values are shown as medians (25–75%) or percent numbers (%). BMI, body mass index; WBC, white blood cell.

Figure 2. Effects of a 3-month treatment with amlodipine or valsartan on endocan circulating plasma levels (upper panel) and C-reactive protein (CRP, lower panel). Data are shown as medians (25–75%).

Table II. Correlations between percent change of endocan levels and corresponding blood pressure and C-reactive protein percent changes induced by treatment in the whole population sample of the study.

Variable	r*	p
SBP, percent change	− 0.090	0.598
DBP, percent change	0.195	0.247
CRP, percent change	− 0.055	0.749

SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; CRP, C-reactive protein. *Spearman correlation analysis.