Comparative effects of bunazosin and propranolol on serum lipids and apolipoproteins in patients with essential hypertension.

The effects of bunazosin and propranolol administration on hypertension and serum levels of lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins were studied in a controlled, randomized multicenter study. After a 4-week washout period, 48 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension were randomly assigned to either the bunazosin or the propranolol group. Twenty-four were treated with bunazosin (1 to 3 mg t.i.d.) and 24 with propranolol (10 to 40 mg t.i.d.) for 12 weeks. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased significantly in both groups. After 12 weeks of bunazosin treatment, significantly lowered apolipoprotein (apo) B and apo B/apo A-I ratio (p less than 0.05, in both cases) were observed, in contrast to no changes in the propranolol group. Although the changes were not significant, bunazosin tended to decrease the ratio of total cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. There were no significant changes in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, apo A-I, apo A-II, apo C-II, apo C-III and apo E for either bunazosin or propranolol. The difference between the two drugs was significant for the apo B/apo A-I ratio (p less than 0.05). Bunazosin monotherapy was shown to be as effective in reducing blood pressure as propranolol. In addition, its favorable effects on lipoprotein metabolism seem to offer an additional advantage in mitigating coronary risk.