Effect of sibutramine on blood pressure in patients with obesity and well-controlled hypertension or normotension.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the short-term effects of sibu-tramine on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) in normotensive and controlled hypertensive obese patients by using ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM).

METHODS: Before and 5 to 7 days after the initiation of sibutramine treatment (10 mg or 15 mg daily), when steady-state concentrations of sibutramine had been reached, ABPM was performed in 81 obese patients. Of this overall study group, 47 patients (26 with normoten-sion and 21 with controlled hypertension) received sibu-tramine in a dosage of 10 mg/day, and 34 patients (18 with normotension and 16 with controlled hypertension) received sibutramine in a dosage of 15 mg/day.

RESULTS: Office-measured systolic and diastolic BPs in normotensive and controlled hypertensive groups of patients with obesity were not significantly different before and after treatment with both doses of sibutramine. ABPM results for normotensive obese groups showed that mean systolic and diastolic BPs were not significantly different after treatment with either 10-mg or 15-mg daily doses of sibutramine, in comparison with baseline. Similarly, in the controlled hypertensive obese groups, the ABPM results were not significantly different before and after sibutramine treatment. Moreover, the mean HR did not change significantly after versus before sibutramine treatment in both dosage groups.

CONCLUSION: Sibutramine did not induce or exacerbate hypertension and had no effect on HR in normotensive and controlled hypertensive obese patients when used in either of two suggested daily doses (10 mg or 15 mg).