Esaxerenone improves the blood pressure and metabolic parameters of hypertensive subjects with diabetes

Esaxerenone, a nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor blocker, may be an effective treatment for diabetes-associated mineralocorticoid receptor-related hypertension, but there have been few studies of its use in clinical practice. We aimed to determine the effects of esaxerenone on blood pressure (BP) and metabolic parameters of hypertensive subjects with diabetes in a clinical practice setting. We performed a retrospective multicenter observational study of hypertensive subjects with type 2 diabetes/prediabetes. We first compared the values of parameters at baseline and after 6 months of esaxerenone administration, then compared the changes in the parameters in propensity score-matched subjects who initiated esaxerenone or amlodipine administration. Correlation analysis was performed to identify factors associated with these changes. The single-arm analysis showed that esaxerenone caused significant reductions in systolic and diastolic BP from 155.2 ± 17.7 and 83.3 ± 12.3 mmHg at baseline to 132.9 ± 15.5 and 72.3 ± 12.9 mmHg, respectively, after 6 months of treatment (p < 0.01). In addition, body mass index (BMI), glycated hemoglobin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and urine albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) significantly decreased (p < 0.05). The esaxerenone group showed significantly larger reductions in systolic BP, AST, ALT, and UACR than the amlodipine group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between the change in ALT and baseline BMI (p < 0.05). Esaxerenone has an antihypertensive effect, reduces the albuminuria, and reduces the activities of liver enzymes in hypertensive subjects with type 2 diabetes/prediabetes. The present findings suggest that esaxerenone has pleiotropic effects in such subjects.