Key result
Long-term α-methyldopa therapy is linked to lower intra-arterial pressure primarily by decreasing cardiac output.
Why the study?
Hemodynamic effects of long-term α-methyldopa therapy in essential hypertension were not fully characterized.
Observational (n=13)
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
α-Methyldopa was associated with pressure reduction in this small cohort; leaves open its hemodynamic effects in contemporary randomized trials.
Thirteen men with untreated essential hypertension in WHO stage I, all working, have been studied ambulatorily. Oxygen consumption, heart rate, cardiac output (Cardiogreen) and intra‐arterial brachial pressure were recorded at rest in supine and sitting position and during steady state work at 300, 600 and 900 kpm/min. The subjects were treated with α‐methyldopa as the sole drug for one year and the hemodynamic study was repeated. The reduction in the intra‐arterial pressure was usually due to a decrease in the cardiac output, with little effect on the calculated total peripheral resistance. The pressure reduction was greatest at rest and during light work. During submaximal exercise the differences between the hemodynamic parameters before and after therapy were small.
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Per Lund‐Johansen (1972) conducted an observational in Untreated essential hypertension in WHO stage I (n=13). α-methyldopa vs. Baseline (pre-treatment) was evaluated on Hemodynamic parameters including intra-arterial pressure and cardiac output. One year of α-methyldopa therapy reduced intra-arterial pressure primarily by decreasing cardiac output, with the greatest reductions seen at rest and during light work.
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