Effects of Felodipine on Urinary Albumin Excretion and Metabolic Control in Hypertensive Non – Insulin-Dependent Diabetics

The effect of a blood pressure reduction by 10 mg extended release felodipine once daily on urinary albumin excretion (UAE) as well as the possible diabetogenic effect of felodipine was studied. A 2 X 12 week placebo-controlled double-blind crossover study was performed in 12 hypertensive non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients without nephropathy on concomitant treatment with beta-blocker and/or a diuretic agent. Metabolic control as estimated by fasting plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c and fasting plasma C-peptide was unaltered after felodipine. Blood pressure was significantly reduced by felodipine: systolic 166 +/- 26 mm Hg (placebo) v 153 +/- 26 mm Hg (felodipine) (P less than .05) and diastolic 95 +/- 7 mm Hg v 90 +/- 8 mm Hg (P less than .05). Heart rate was unchanged. There was no correlation between blood pressure and UAE, but the relative change in UAE expressed as UAE placebo/UAE felodipine was significantly correlated to the fall in systolic blood pressure (r = 0.64, P = .03) and mean blood pressure (r = 0.66, P = .02). Since microalbuminuria predicts proteinuria and reduced survival, early antihypertensive treatment may be beneficial in NIDDM as it is in IDDM. Long-term consequences on kidney function and mortality remains, however, to be elucidated.