Telmisartan in patients with mild/moderate hypertension and chronic kidney disease.

AIMS: This study assessed the clinical efficacy and safety of telmisartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker with a long terminal elimination half-life and almost exclusively excreted in bile, in patients with varying severity of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adults with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 90 - 109 mmHg and stable CKD were enrolled: mild/moderate (creatinine clearance (CrCl) 30 - 74 ml/ min/1.73 m2), severe (CrCl < 30 ml/min/1.73 m2) or requiring maintenance hemodialysis. A two- to four-week single-blind, placebo run-in period preceded once-daily telmisartan 40 mg administration for four weeks. Telmisartan 80 mg was given after four- or eight-week treatment ifDBP > or = 85 mmHg. After 12-week treatment, trough DBP/systolic blood pressure (SBP), DBP and SBP control rates, renal function and tolerability were recorded.

RESULTS: Mean changes in DBP/SBP were 10.5/-10.7 mmHg for mild/moderate CKD (n = 27), -11.2/-14.9 mmHg for severe CKD (n = 27) and -15.0/-21.1 mmHg for hemodialysis patients (n = 28). DBP control rates (< 90 mmHg)/SBP responses (< 140 mmHg or > 10 mmHg reduction) occurred in 59.3%/66.7%, 63.0%/70.4% and 71.4%/92.9% of mild/moderate CKD, severe CKD and hemodialysis patients, respectively. Incidences of drug-related adverse events were low, and all were known adverse events of telmisartan and common to other angiotensin II receptor blockers. At the end of treatment, a decrease in 24-h urine creatinine occurred in 5/53 (9.4%) patients. Two patients discontinued treatment prematurely due to the worsening of CKD and one due to aggravated proteinuria.

CONCLUSION: Once-daily telmisartan provided effective and well-tolerated treatment of mild/moderate hypertension in CKD patients, with no worsening of renal function.