Impact of baseline blood pressure on the magnitude of blood pressure lowering by nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system: refreshing the Wilder's principle

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between baseline blood pressure (BP) and the magnitude of BP reduction in patients with essential hypertension treated with nifedipine gastrointestinal therapeutic system (NGTS). One hundred and thirty-eight patients with essential hypertension were enrolled in this prospective, single-arm, open-label study. NGTS was administered for 24 weeks to achieve target BP of 140/90 mmHg. The dose could be uptitrated to 60 mg/d in case of unsatisfactory BP reduction after 4-week treatment. Home blood pressure measurement was recorded through the initial 1-14 days, and office BP and heart rate were evaluated at 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks. One hundred and seventeen patients (84.8%) completed the study, and their average BP decreased by 19.0/11.3 mmHg after 24 weeks. The reduction of either systolic or diastolic BP was positively correlated with baseline BP at weeks 2, 4, or 24 after treatment ( =0.603-0.762, all