Long-term effects of a renin inhibitor versus a thiazide diuretic on arterial stiffness and left ventricular diastolic function in elderly hypertensive patients

Yoshiyuki Okada, Shigeki Shibata, Naoki Fujimoto, Stuart A. Best, Benjamin D Levine, Qi Fu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Arterial stiffness and cardiac function are important predictors of cardiovascular events in patients with hypertension, even with adequate blood pressure (BP) control. We evaluated whether a direct renin inhibitor, aliskiren, reduces arterial stiffness and modulates left ventricular function compared with a diuretic, hydrochlorothiazide, in elderly hypertensive patients. Twenty-one hypertensive patients [67 ± 14 (SD) yr] were randomly assigned to receive 6-mo aliskiren (n = 11) or hydrochlorothiazide (n = 10)-based therapy. We assessed β-stiffness of the local arteries, arterial elastance (Ea), and echocardiographic variables, including early (E) and late (A) mitral inflow velocity, deceleration time of E, early (E′) and late (A′) diastolic mitral annular velocity, and left ventricular end-systolic elastance (Ees) before and after treatment. BP decreased similarly (P < 0.001) after both therapies. β-Stiffness of the carotid artery decreased after aliskiren but increased after hydrochlorothiazide treatment (aliskiren: 6.42 ± 2.34 pre vs. 5.07 ± 1.29 post; hydrochlorothiazide: 5.05 ± 1.78 vs. 7.25 ± 2.68, P = 0.001 for interaction). β-Stiffness of the femoral and radial arteries were not different after either treatment. Different from aliskiren, E decreased (73 ± 16 vs. 67 ± 14 cm/s, P = 0.026), and the deceleration time was prolonged (218 ± 40 vs. 236 ± 35 ms, P = 0.032) after hydrochlorothiazide therapy, whereas the E/A, and E′ remained unchanged after both treatments. Ea and Ees decreased after aliskiren therapy (both P < 0.05), whereas the Ea/Ees (ventricular-arterial coupling) was maintained after both treatments. Thus, aliskiren decreased the stiffness of carotid artery and left ventricular end-systolic elastance with maintenance of ventriculararterial coupling without any effects on diastolic filling, while hydrochlorothiazide increased carotid arterial stiffness and slowed early diastolic filling in elderly hypertensive patients.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)R400-R409
JournalAmerican Journal of Physiology - Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology
Volume313
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 9 2017

Keywords

  • Cardiovascular function
  • Direct rein inhibitor
  • Diuretics
  • Elderly
  • Hypertension

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Physiology (medical)

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