Nitrendipine once daily compared with nicardipine in the treatment of mild to moderate hypertension.

Twenty-four patients with mild to moderate hypertension were randomly assigned to 42 days of treatment with 20 mg of nitrendipine once daily or 20 mg of nicardipine thrice daily. In the nitrendipine-treated and nicardipine-treated patients, respectively, mean resting blood pressure decreased from 163 +/- 12 and 161 +/- 11 mmHg at baseline to 152 +/- 12 and 146 +/- 9 mmHg at six weeks (P less than 0.001). Blood pressures were reduced after one day of treatment, followed by an attenuation of the drug effect. In both treatment groups, blood pressures after cycloergometric, isometric, and cold-pressure tests were significantly lower at six weeks than at baseline; at six weeks, blood pressures were also significantly reduced two hours after drug administration, compared with those at or just before drug administration. It is concluded that nitrendipine taken once daily is safe and effective in the treatment of mild to moderate hypertension.