Short-term electrophysiological effects of losartan, bisoprolol, amlodipine, and hydrochlorothiazide in hypertensive men

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Hypertension-induced left ventricular structural remodelling associates with repolarization abnormalities. We investigated if antihypertensive drugs can modulate ventricular repolarization. METHODS: A total of 183 hypertensive men received for 4 weeks drugs (losartan 50 mg, bisoprolol 5 mg, amlodipine 5 mg, hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) 25 mg) in a randomized order, separated by 4-week placebo periods. Electrocardiograms (ECG) were recorded at the end of placebo and drug periods. Measurements of repolarization duration (QT intervals), repolarization heterogeneity (T-wave peak to T-wave end (TPE) intervals), and T-wave morphology (T-wave principal component analysis (PCA) ratio, T-wave morphology dispersion (TMD), and total cosine R-to-T (TCRT)) during each drug were compared to placebo measurements. RESULTS: Losartan and bisoprolol shortened maximum and mean rate-adjusted QT intervals as well as mean TPE interval, decreased TMD, and increased TCRT. Losartan also shortened precordial maximum TPE interval and decreased PCA ratio. Amlodipine had no repolarization effects, whereas HCTZ prolonged precordial maximum TPE interval and mean TPE interval. CONCLUSION: Losartan and bisoprolol have beneficial short-term ECG repolarization effects. Amlodipine seems to have no repolarization effects. HCTZ seems to prolong the ECG TPE interval, potentially reflecting increased repolarization heterogeneity. These findings show that antihypertensive drugs may relatively rapidly and treatment-specifically modulate ECG markers of ventricular repolarization.