Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension
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Both strict blood pressure control and efferent artery dilatation are critical in reducing proteinuria, which in turn helps to regulate blood pressure. Benidipine, an L- and T-type calcium channel blocker, has the potential for increased effectiveness compared with L-type-dominant calcium channel blockers such as amlodipine. Therefore, we evaluated blood pressure and proteinuria after changeover from amlodipine to benidipine in poorly controlled hypertensive patients. ⋯ By switching from amlodipine to benidipine treatment, more than 80% of patients reduced their blood pressure, and more than 40% achieved optimal blood pressure. Higher urinary protein excretion (p<0.0001), lower glomerular filtration rate (p=0.0011) and presence of diabetes (p=0.0284) were correlated with reduction of urinary proteins during changeover. Taken together, our results suggest that benidipine may have greater efficacy than amlodipine in reducing blood pressure and proteinuria.