Antihypertensive combination drug Lotrel (amlodipine/benazepril) was shown to be more effective than benazapril plus diuretics in preventing the development of chronic kidney disease.
The new study, Avoiding Cardiovascular Events in Combination therapy in Patients Living with Systolic Hypertension (ACCOMPLISH), was published in the February 18, 2010 issue of Lancet.
The study, involving 11,506 patients, showed that the benazepril/amlodipine combination reduced the risk of morbidity and mortality by 20% in high-risk hypertensive patients (systolic blood pressure > 160 mm Hg). Furthermore, the combination drug also reduced the risk of developing chronic kidney disease by 48%.
It is important to note that this is not the first study to show an antihypertensive drug is able to prevent the development of kidney disease. Other drugs such as losartan (Cozaar) and irbesartan (Aprovel) have been shown to prevent the development of kidney disease.
Bakris et. al. Lancet 2010; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)62100-0.
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