Enalapril and Losartan on the Level of Plasma Nirate in Untreated Essential Hypertensive Patients

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of enalapril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and losartan an angiotensin II recepter antagonist on the !eve! of plasma nitrate in untreated essential hypertensive patients. The study was carried on 28 mild or moderate essential hypertensive patients (9 of them were men, mean age: 46±8 years). After the elinical and plasma nitrate !eve! assessment, patients were randemised to one of the 2 treatment protocols: enalapril 20 mg/d to group I, losartan 50 mg/d to group Il. After patients were given antihypertensive treatment for 8 weeks, elinical and plasma nitrate !eve! controls were performed again. Two treatment protocols were observed to decrease the elinical blood pressure meaningfully. With enalapril treatment, the !eve! of plasma nitrate increased from 13.20±4.75 ı.ıM/L to 13.71±5.71 ı.ıM/L (p>0.05). With losartan treatment, the !eve! of plasma nitrate rose from 14.09±5.21 ı.ıM/L to 15.12±8.77 ı.ıM/L (difference not significant). Thus both enalapril and losartan treatment were thought to increase the !eve! of plasma nitrate in untreated essential hypertensive patients. We believe that randomised studies with larger patient populations should be conducted to evaluate the effect of antihypertensive treatment on plasma nitrate level.