RESUMO
This study was designed to determine the effect of antihypertensive agents (calcium channel blockers) on the levels of remnant-like particle (RLP) cholesterol; a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, during treatment of hypertension. Thirty six hypertensive patients of both sexes were selected into this study. Twenty-five of them were treated with amlodipine while eleven patients were treated with cilnidipine all for 3 months. At the beginning and after 3 months of treatment, serum RLP-cholesterol levels were measured in the two treatment groups. RLP-cholesterol level was significantly reduced after clinidipine treatment while the reduction in RLP-cholesterol level after amlodipine treatment was not statistically significant. Our findings show that calcium channel blockers may lower the risk of myocardial infarction, coronary atherosclerosis and/or coronary thrombus formation through reduction in RLP-cholesterol levels during antihypertensive pharmacotherapy