NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new hormonal therapy that combines low-dose estradiol with a synthetic progestin called drospirenone is associated with significant reductions in systolic blood pressure in postmenopausal women, according to results reported at the American Society of Hypertension’s 19th Annual Scientific Meeting.
Lead author Dr. William White, professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences Center in Farmington, Connecticut, said women assigned to a combination of drospirenone and estradiol (DRSP/E2) had an average 14.1 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure after 12 weeks of treatment, while women randomized to placebo had a 7.1 mmHG reduction in systolic pressure.
Dr. White said DRSP/E2 provides the symptomatic relief seen with standard hormone therapy but appears to eliminate the “pro thrombotic effects.” In an interview with Reuters Health, he said that DRSP “has aldosterone-blocking ability, which is likely the mechanism of benefit.”
The multi-center study enrolled 212 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 80. The women had baseline systolic pressures of 140-159 mm Hg and diastolic pressures of 90 to 99 mm Hg. All patients were placed on placebo for 3 to 4 weeks to establish baseline pressures. After the washout period the women were randomized to DRSP 3 mg/E2 1 mg once daily (n = 110) or to placebo (n = 102).
Blood pressure was measured in the clinic and with 24-hour ambulatory monitoring.
Dr. White said the drug, marketed as Angeliq, is available in Europe for treatment of hypertension in postmenopausal women, but it is not yet approved for this indication in the United States.
The study was funded by Berlex, Inc.
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