Antihypertensive Agents Reduce Heart Biomarkers Levels

High blood pressure (BP) is associated with an increased rate of cardiovascular events and mortality. Cardiovascular biomarkers are able to predict long-term risk in the general population, particularly in diseased cohorts.

Two different antihypertensive regimens had the effect of lowering blood pressure levels in patients while reducing both cardiac troponin levels measured by a high-sensitivity assay (hs-cTn) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations.

Scientists at University Heart Center Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany) randomized into two cohorts of hypertensive patients at one healthcare center. In one group, 251 individuals received 80 mg telmisartan and 5 mg amlodipine, while in the other, 230 received 40 mg olmesartan and 12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide. Patients prior to randomization and after six months had measurements of their blood pressure, hs-cTn I and T, BNP, and N-terminal-pro-BNP (NT-proBNP).

Various assays from Roche (Basel, Switzerland) and Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, IL, USA) were used to measure the cardiovascular biomarkers. The team reported that hs-cTnI concentrations declined markedly in both study groups and in the overall population dropped from 4.6 ng/L to 4.2 ng/L. In a subgroup analysis, the investigators discovered that male patients experienced a much higher reduction in hs-cTnI concentrations than their female counterparts. By comparison, hs-cTnT’s measurability was just 26.2% in the overall study population. Concentrations for this biomarker did not change after the intervention. BNP and NT-proBNP concentrations also were reduced after six months: from 15.0 ng/L to 12.4 ng/L and from 64.8 ng/L to 53.3 ng/L, respectively.

The authors concluded that they had determined that reducing blood pressure in patients led to a reduction in hs-cTnI, BNP, and NT-proBNP concentrations after half a year’s treatment with antihypertensive therapies. This effect was stronger when the combination of an angiotensin-receptor blocker with a calcium-channel blocker was used as compared to an angiotensin-receptor blocker and a diuretic. The study was published in the December 2017 issue of the journal Clinical Chemistry.