The antihypertensive action of acebutolol.

Acebutolol is a relatively "cardioselective" beta-adrenergic blocking agent with an antihypertensive action. The aims of this investigation were to establish the effective dosage range, to study the effect on supine, standing and exercise blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR), and to compare the efficacy of once daily (OM) with twice daily (BD) dosing of acebutolol. This was a within patient, double-blind, randomised study. This study shows that the optimum dosage of acebutolol for control of BP and heart rate is 400mg or more daily, and that OM dosing seems to be as effective as BD dosing for supine, standing and post exercise BP control, but is less so for heart rate control.