Antihypertensive efficacy, safety, and tolerability of the oral direct renin inhibitor aliskiren in patients with hypertension: a pooled analysis

The antihypertensive efficacy and safety of the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren were assessed in a pooled analysis of data from seven randomized, multicenter studies. Data were available for 7,045 patients (mean age 52.5 to 59.8 years, 50.2 to 72.5% men) with mild-to-moderate hypertension (mean sitting diastolic blood pressure [msDBP] 95 to 109 mm Hg) over treatment durations of 6 to 8 weeks. In placebo-controlled trials, aliskiren reduced mean sitting systolic blood pressure/msDBP from baseline by 8.6 to 12.1/7.2 to 10.3 mm Hg (75 mg), 8.7 to 13.0/7.8 to 10.3 mm Hg (150 mg), 14.1 to 15.8/10.3 to 12.3 mm Hg (300 mg), and 15.7 to 15.8/11.5 to 12.5 mm Hg (600 mg), compared with 2.9 to 10.0/3.3 to 8.6 mm Hg for placebo. Aliskiren demonstrated comparable efficacy in men and women, in patients aged <65 years or ≥65 years, and lowered blood pressure (BP) effectively in all racial subgroups. Combination of aliskiren 150 mg or 300 mg with ramipril, amlodipine, or hydrochlorothiazide provided significant additional BP reductions compared with the respective monotherapies. The overall incidence of adverse events with aliskiren monotherapy was similar to placebo (39.8% vs. 40.2%, respectively). The incidence of diarrhea with aliskiren was higher than placebo due to a significantly higher rate with aliskiren 600 mg (P < .0001 vs. placebo). In conclusion, aliskiren 150 mg or 300 mg provides highly effective and consistent BP lowering with placebo-like tolerability in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension.