[Combined therapy with quinapril, an ACE inhibitor, and valsartan, a type 1 angiotensin II receptors blocker, for moderate chronic cardiac failure may raise the degree of neurohormonal block and improve 24-h heart rate variability compared to the effect of monotherapy (data from the trial SADKO-CHF)]

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Angiotensin II in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To compare effects of various regimens of long-term monotherapy with quinapril (an ACE inhibitor) and valsartan (a type 1 angiotensin II receptors blocker) and combined therapy with these drugs on the activity of heurohormonal systems and 24-h heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with stable moderate chronic cardiac failure (CCF).

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 80 patients were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Group 1 patients (n = 28) received quinapril, group 2 (n = 26)--valsartan, group 3 (n = 26)--quinapril + valsartan.

The levels of norepinephrine (NE), angiotensin II (AT II), activity of plasmic renin (PR), aldosteron (AS), plasmic cerebral sodiumuretic peptide (CSUP) were measured and ECG with determination of HRV and heart rate disturbances was made before and 3, 6 months after the treatment.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Angiotensin II and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Aldosterone, Angiotensin II, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors, Antihypertensive Agents, Chronic Disease, Electrocardiography, Ambulatory and Heart Failure.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Angiotensin II in 80 patients.

Its findings take up roughly 12 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2005 (Terapevticheskii arkhiv), a journal based in Russia (Federation).

More context: the Angiotensin II compound page, all human trials.