Prospective evaluation of the effect of statins on blood pressure control in hypertensive patients in clinical practise

Abstract Background and aim Some clinical evidence supports a statin antihypertensive effect. Our aim is to evaluate the statin effect on blood pressure control in hypertensive patients in the setting of clinical practice, and the role of some predetermined individual patient characteristics (age, gender, baseline BP levels, pre-treatment LDL-C levels) on the supposed statin BP lowering effect. Methods and results Two hundred and fifty-four hypertensive patients with hypercholesterolemia were enrolled in the Ambulatory service of the Hypertension Research Unit of Bologna University Hospital. After 2–4 weeks of a run-in period patients were allocated to statin treatment and followed-up for 24 weeks. The blood pressure response to statins was compared in several subgroups of patients according to age, gender, baseline BP and pre-treatment cholesterolemia. In the overall study population, the use of statins was associated with a significant reduction in systolic (−7.6 ± 4 mmHg, p < 0.05) and diastolic blood pressures (−5.2 ± 3 mmHg, p < 0.05) in comparison to baseline. The blood pressure decrease was more pronounced in patients younger than 65 years ( p < 0.05), with higher baseline systolic blood pressure ( p < 0.005), and in those with higher cholesterolemia before statins ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Our study suggests a BP-lowering effect of statins, consistent with some other literature. Some parameters like age, baseline systolic blood pressure and cholesterolemia influence the antihypertensive effect of statins. The lack of consideration for these confounding factors may be one of the reasons for the conflicting results about the BP lowering effects of statins.