The effects of atenolol and zofenopril on plasma atrial natriuretic peptide are due to their interactions with target organ damage of essential hypertensive patients

What Was Tested

Researchers studied ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The effect of atenolol on ANP positively correlated with duration of hypertension (r = 0.74), ECG score for LVH (r = 0.73) and serum creatinine (r = 0.68).

Who Took Part

The study group was 34 patients.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide), giving a reference point.

The timeline in the abstract includes 4 weeks.

What Was Measured

The effect of atenolol on ANP positively correlated with duration of hypertension (r = 0.74), ECG score for LVH (r = 0.73) and serum creatinine (r = 0.68).

PubMed files the paper under topics including Antihypertensive Agents, Atenolol, Atrial Natriuretic Factor, Blood Pressure, Captopril, Drug Interactions and Hemodynamics.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide) in 34 patients over 4 weeks.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1997 (Journal of human hypertension), a journal based in England.

More context: the ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide) compound page, all human trials.