Lipid profile during antihypertensive treatment : the SLIP study. Discussion

Some antihypertensive drugs adversely affect the plasma lipid profile, and this has to be taken into account when choosing treatment for hypertension because it may offset the beneficial blood pressure-lowering effect of these agents. In this study, the long term effects of verapamil sustained release (SR) 240mg daily and enalapril 20mg daily on plasma lipid levels were investigated in 931 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. Patients whose blood pressure was not effectively lowered after at least 1 month of monotherapy had either enalapril 20mg once daily added to their verapamil treatment or hydrochlorothiazide 12.5mg once daily added to their enalapril treatment. Blood pressure and lipid profile were assessed before and after 6 months of treatment