Effects of celiprolol vs. nifedipine on serum lipoproteins in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.

During a double-blind, randomized study in hypertensive patients, changes in plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels during treatment with celiprolol were compared with those occurring during nifedipine treatment. Fifty-three patients (28 men and 25 women) with mild-to-moderate hypertension, aged 20-64 years, were studied. After a 1-month placebo run-in period, patients were randomly assigned to receive either nifedipine (40 mg daily) or celiprolol (200 mg daily), each time using a double-dummy technique. After 6 weeks, dosages of each drug could be doubled. After 6 weeks, there were no differences in plasma lipids between the two treatment groups. However, the changes after 12 weeks of treatment were different (p < 0.05) between the groups, leading to lower levels of plasma esterified cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and apoprotein AI, AII, and B in the celiprolol group. Plasma lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase activity (LCAT) was not modified. The present study showed that celiprolol was at least equivalent to nifedipine in terms of secondary effects on plasma lipids and lipoprotein.