Objective:
Arterial hypertension (AH) is one of the most common and socially significant diseases worldwide. Despite years of experience gained in studying hypertension, the problems concerning selection of antihypertensive therapy with pleiotropic organ-protecting effects are still of current importance. The purpose of the study was to assess therapeutic efficacy and pleiotropic organ-protective capability of third-generation calcium antagonist lercanidipine in patients with stage 2-3 hypertension.

Method:
Our study enrolled a total of ninety-two 31-to-84-year-old patients. Of these, 72 patients diagnosed as having stage 2 or 3 AH composed the Study Group and 20 apparently healthy subjects were included into the Control Group. At baseline and after 6 months, all patients of the Study Group underwent examinations consisting in measuring biochemical parameters [total cholesterol (TCH), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL CH), uric acid, urea, creatinine, glucose], 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, echocardiography (EchoCG) in order to assess the dimensions and volume of the cardiac chambers, thickness of the left ventricular posterior wall (LVPW) and left-ventricular myocardium mass index (LVMMI), studying microalbuminuria (MAU) , a known marker of endothelial dysfunction and early renal lesion; assessing the state of the vascular wall by the ankle-brachial index (ABI) and pulse pressure (PP). Antihypertensive therapy consisted in lercanidipine alone taken at a dose of 10-20 mg/day, failure to thereby achieve the target BP level was followed by additionally prescribing an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, enalapril, given at a dose of 5-20 mg twice daily.

Results:
All patients by the end of the study achieved the target level of AP (p<0.05), also demonstrating significantly improved (p<0.01) parameters of endothelial dysfunction and an early marker of renal damage (MAU), indices of elastic properties of the vascular wall ABI (p<0.05) and PP (p=0.01). Significantly positive dynamics was observed for the following parameters: decreased creatinine concentration (p<0.001), increased GFR (p<0.001), decreased levels of TCH (p<0.01) and LDL CH (p<0.001).

Conclusion:
Lercanidipine therapy of patients with stage 2 - 3 AH proved highly efficient, well tolerated, metabolically neutral with pleiotropic organ-protecting properties in the form of improved condition of the vascular wall, correction of endothelial dysfunction, nephroprotective action.