The beta-blocker, nebivolol, may be just what the doctor orders to control high blood pressure, especially among African Americans.
According to research presented at ISHIB2005, nebivolol was shown to be statistically significantly better than placebo in reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure among African-American hypertensive patients in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. In addition, adverse events from the medication were similar to those found in the group taking placebo only.
To conduct the clinical trial, Elijah Saunders, MD and colleagues randomly assigned 300 mild-to-moderate hypertensives to receive nebivolol in varying doses (2.5, 5, 10, 20, or 40 mg) or placebo once daily for 12 weeks. Nebivolol demonstrated a dose response, with numerically greater reductions in blood pressure with increasing nebivolol doses, up to 20 mg once daily. Reductions in diastolic blood pressure ranged up to 8.9 mm Hg (compared with a 2.8 mm Hg reduction with placebo); reductions in systolic blood pressure ranged up to 7.6 mm Hg (compared with a 0.4 mm Hg reduction with placebo).
“Beta-blockers are under-utilized among African Americans due to the perception that this form of anti-hypertensive medication is not effective,” stated Dr. Saunders, study author, ISHIB co-founder, and professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “This study shows that nebivolol lowered blood pressure in a dose-dependent manner and was well-tolerated,” he continued.
The study found no statistically significant differences in the incidence of adverse events between the nebivolol and placebo groups. The most commonly reported adverse events were: headache (5.6% vs 4.1%, respectively); dizziness (3.6% vs 0%, respectively); arthralgia (3.6% vs 2.0%, respectively); diarrhea (3.2% vs 2.0%, respectively); fatigue (2.8% vs 0%, respectively); nasopharyngitis (2.4% vs 0%, respectively); and urinary tract infections (2.4% vs 0%, respectively).