Perindopril safety and tolerance in at-risk patients.

The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are effective in the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure. They improve the quality of life when compared with other conventional antihypertensive drugs. Perindopril, a new ACE inhibitor, is well tolerated and associated with fewer side effects than other types of antihypertensive agents. Moreover, it does not induce adverse metabolic changes such as hyperglycaemia and/or alterations in the blood lipid profile that could negate the benefits of lowering blood pressure. In hypertensive diabetic patients, perindopril decreases microalbuminuria without affecting the quality of glycaemic control and thereby may delay the progression of nephropathy. Therefore, perindopril appears to be an alternative first-line antihypertensive agent which may be useful in hypertensive diabetics.