A recent study in Japan has revealed that Esaxerenone – a novel nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) blocker, has good safety and efficacy profiles in patients with hypertension and primary aldosteronism (PA).
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| Photo: Hypertension with Primary Aldosteronism | InStyleHealth |
Researchers facilitated a multicenter, open-label
study involving 44 patients with average age of 49 years, where 56.8% were women
with hypertension and PA. Esaxerenone was administered for 12 weeks at a
starting dose of 2.5 mg/day, increasing to 5 mg/day during weeks 2 or 4, according
on patient response. Primary efficacy result was the change in sitting systolic
(SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure.
What is primary aldosteronism?
Primary aldosteronism is
defined as a hormonal disorder which leads to high blood pressure or hypertension.
This occurs when the adrenal glands overproduce a hormone called aldosterone.
Average sitting SBP was 154 mm/Hg at baseline, which plummeted
to 136.4 mm/Hg at the end of medication. DBP, similarly, revealed a declining
trend, decreasing from 100 to 90 mm/Hg. With such reductions became apparent as
early as week 2 and continued until week 8, after which changes remained stable
until the end of trial period.
Close to half (47.7%) of the total participants achieved
a sitting BP of <140/90 mm/Hg at the end of the medication.
Regarding safety, the experts documented treatment-emergent
adverse events in 27 of the patients, generating an overall rate of 61.4%. The
side effects deemed related to the test treatment were reported in 25% of
patients. Although there was one serious event that was recorded, but it was not
considered correlated to esaxerenone.
There were two patients who discontinued medication
due to adverse events; no mortality events occurred.
The researchers said that the study is the first to
investigate the antihypertensive effects of a novel MR blocker, esaxerenone, in
hypertensive patients diagnosed with PA. Esaxerenone had a clinically
significant antihypertensive effect in Japanese hypertensive patients with PA
and was well tolerated, with consistent efficacy across a range of patient subgroups.
For a full view of the clinical research, click here.
Source: Hypertens Res 2021;44:464-472