In patients with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, the blood pressure-lowering medication Diovan (valsartan) significantly reduced urinary protein excretion, with high doses providing the greatest sustained reduction, according to data presented at the Amer ican Heart Association's (AHA) Annual Scientific Sessions.
The findings were from a study called DROP (Diovan Reduction Of Proteinuria), the largest and longest running trial to examine dose-related effects of an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) - a class of medication used to treat hypertension - on urinary protein excretion. DROP is also the first clinical study testing efficacy, safety and tolerability of Diovan 640 mg, a dose that is not currently approved.
"Recent research encouraged exploration into high doses of ARBs and their effects on microalbuminuria in addition to blood pressure," 7 said lead investigator Norman Hollenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "DROP found that high doses of Diovan provided a greater reduction in microalbuminuria than lower doses."
Study and Findings
The multi-center, double-blind study included 391 adult participants with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high levels of urinary protein (urinary albumin excretion rate 20-700 mcg/min). All participants received Diovan 160 mg for the first 4 weeks, then were randomly assigned to continue that dose or receive 320 mg or 640 mg, twice the approved highest dose, for 26 more weeks.