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Does carvedilol affect cardiovascular and physical performance parameters at rest and during exercise in well-conditioned healthy male volunteers?
Does carvedilol affect cardiovascular and physical performance parameters at rest and during exercise in well-conditioned healthy male volunteers?
Carvedilol lowers resting and exercise systolic blood pressure and heart rate without impairing physical performance in healthy volunteers, though it may cause tiredness.
Summary: The effect of carvedilol on cardiovascular and physical performance parameters at rest and during exercise was evaluated in an open, uncontrolled study. Assessments were made at rest, at one-half anaerobic threshold (½AT), at AT, and at maximal work load (WLmax) before and after 3 weeks of treatment with 12.5 mg carvedilol once daily for 1 week, followed by 25 mg carvedilol once daily for 2 weeks. Ten well-conditioned healthy male volunteers maintained their regular training program during the study, and all completed the study. End-of-study measures of physical performance (time to WLmax, WLmax, and VO2/kg) and behavioral measures (Borg scale) of perceived exertion were unchanged from prestudy values. End-of-study diastolic BP (DBP) at rest and at WLmax was unchanged compared with prestudy values (mean ± SD; 81.0 ± 7.38 and 84.4 ± 4.95 mm Hg, respectively, compared with 82.0 ± 8.88 and 85.0 ± 7.07 mm Hg, respectively). Mean ± SD change from prestudy to end-of-study baseline resting systolic BP (SBP) was a reduction of 11.5 ± 8.83 mm Hg, and mean ± SD change from prestudy to end-of-study SBP at WLmax was a reduction of 20.0 ± 12.25 mm Hg. Mean ± SD change from prestudy to end-of-study resting heart rate (HR) a reduction of 7.8 ± 18.45 beats/min, and mean ± SD change from prestudy to end-of-study HR at WLmax was a reduction of 19.7 ± 9.24 beats/min. The effect of carvedilol thus represents a combination of reduction in resting systolic BP and HR and attenuation of the exercise-induced changes in these parameters. Seven volunteers complained of moderate-to-severe adverse experiences, usually episodic complaints of tiredness. Six volunteers had changes from normal screening laboratory values to values outside the investigator's normal range, including two with end-of-study platelet counts of 130 × 109/L and 106 × 109/L. Results of this study indicate that physical performance is maintained after 3 weeks of carvedilol treatment without increase in perceived exertion during exercise testing, despite episodic symptoms of tiredness. Resting SBP and HR were lowered and exercise-induced increases were attenuated, but DBP was not decreased, and the exercise-induced increase was not attenuated.
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Loefsjoegaard-Nilsson et al. (1992) studied this question.
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