Once-daily acebutolol and atenolol in essential hypertension: double-blind crossover comparison.

Acebutolol was compared to atenolol in 33 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension (diastolic blood pressure greater than 95 mm Hg) with the use of a double-blind crossover study design. At 8 weeks of treatment, acebutolol, 400 mg once daily, and atenolol, 100 mg once daily, produced similar significant (p less than 0.01) reductions in average mean arterial blood pressure (12% and 11%, respectively) from baseline. Average heart rate at 4 weeks was also significantly reduced (p less than 0.01) from baseline (acebutolol, 14.8%; atenolol, 18.3%); the reduction with acebutolol, however, was significantly less (p less than 0.05) than that seen with atenolol. Both agents produced similar effects during exercise, and serum drug determinations showed acebutolol to be rapidly metabolized. Acebutolol appeared to be better tolerated: the frequency of side effects with acebutolol (24%) was less than with atenolol (45%). Acebutolol is as effective as atenolol in mild to moderate essential hypertension. Acebutolol appears to be better tolerated and to have a lesser effect on heart rate than atenolol.