AzTrials
AzTrials

HypertensionNCT00627861

Combined Renin Inhibition/Beta-blockade

A study testing Aliskiren and Extended-release metoprolol in people with Hypertension, run by The Rogosin Institute at 1 site in United States.

Terminated

Stopped early. The study ended before it was planned to and will not resume.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

Antihypertensive drug treatment is effective in only about 50% of patients. One mechanism responsible for treatment failure is a drug related stimulation of the renin-angiotension-aldosterone-system (RAAS). Several classes of medications that treat hypertension by blocking the RAAS system have been developed. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 80 years
Conditions the study is for
Hypertension
What is being tested?
Aliskiren and Extended-release metoprolol
Type of treatment
Pill or oral medicine
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
1 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Nov 2008to May 2010
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 80 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Twenty subjects with a history of hypertension with the following inclusion criteria will be enrolled:
  • Age 18-80 years
  • Stage 1 (systolic 140-159 mm Hg or diastolic 90-99 mmHg) or Stage 2 (systolic >160 mm Hg or diastolic >100 mmHg) or current treatment with antihypertensive medication.
  • PRA ≥0.65 ng/ml/h. If PRA is below this level during the screening period, due to treatment with a beta-blocker or central α2-receptor agonist, the subject may be enrolled and the PRA level re-checked after treatment is tapered off.

Who cannot join

  • History of diabetes requiring pharmacologic treatment with an oral or parenteral hypoglycemic agent, including insulin
  • TIA, stroke or myocardial infarction
  • History of asthma or COPD
  • Cockcroft Gault estimated GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2
  • Previous adverse events during treatment with a β-blocker or aliskiren
  • ALT level twice normal
Show all 10Show fewer
  • Secondary forms of hypertension (e.g., renovascular, primary aldosteronism)
  • PRA<0.65 ng/ml/h after discontinuation of antihypertensive medication
  • Systolic BP>180 mm Hg, diastolic BP>105 mm Hg
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding, or planning pregnancy during the study period

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • The Rogosin Institute

    New York, New York, 10021

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Renin System Responses to Combined Renin Inhibition and Beta Adrenergic Blockade

Antihypertensive drug treatment is effective in only about 50% of patients. One mechanism responsible for treatment failure is a drug related stimulation of the renin-angiotension-aldosterone-system (RAAS). Several classes of medications that treat hypertension by blocking the RAAS system have been developed. However, the kidney responds to these drug treatments by producing greater amounts of renin. This high level of renin can reduce the effectiveness of some of these medications, ultimately causing the blood pressure to rise. This is one reason why blood pressure can be difficult to control in a certain percentage of patients.

The hypothesis to be tested in the proposed study is that beta-adrenergic blockade (β-blockade), when superimposed upon aliskiren, a drug that competitively inhibits plasma renin activity (PRA) but stimulates the release of renin by the kidneys (plasma renin concentration [PRC]), can suppress the reactive increase in PRC that occurs during aliskiren monotherapy.

The primary aim of this study is to measure plasma renin concentration (PRC) and plasma renin activity (PRA) levels during renin inhibition with aliskiren and combined renin inhibition/β-blocker treatment to determine whether the addition of a β-blocker attenuates the rise in plasma renin concentration (PRC). A secondary aim is to determine whether combined treatment further suppresses PRA and blood pressure.

Read the detailed description

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays a central role in the maintenance of normal blood pressure (BP) homeostasis. Derangements in the regulation of this system, predominantly due to the failure to appropriately suppress renin secretion by the kidney, contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension and its cardiovascular, renal and cerebrovascular complications.

Several classes of antihypertensive medications that interrupt the RAAS have been developed. These include agents that block angiotensin II (Ang II) binding to the AT1 receptor (Ang II receptor blockers [ARB]), inhibit conversion of Ang I to Ang II (angiotensin converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors), and suppress renal secretion of renin (beta-adrenergic receptor blocker). These agents effectively lower BP, particularly in the hypertensive patient with an unsuppressed plasma renin activity (PRA) level, and significantly improve survival in cardiovascular diseases in which PRA levels are often elevated (e.g., heart failure, myocardial infarction).

Renin secretion is regulated, in part, by feedback inhibition due to Ang II binding to the juxtaglomerular cell (JG). Interruption of Ang II generation or its receptor binding during treatment with an ACE inhibitor or ARB, respectively, stimulates renin secretion because feedback inhibition is attenuated and renal perfusion pressure is reduced. The consequent, reactive rise in PRA that occurs during treatment with these drugs can limit their antihypertensive efficacy because Ang I and subsequently, Ang II levels increase.

These observations reinforce the theoretical and practical importance of pharmacologic suppression of renin secretion to prevent the reactive rise in PRA that occurs during treatment with ACE inhibitors and ARBs. β-blockers suppress renin secretion by inhibiting β1-adrenergic receptors located on JG cells. PRA and Ang II levels are highly correlated and these decrease commensurately during treatment with a β-blocker.

Aliskiren is an orally active, non-peptide renin inhibitor. Its antihypertensive efficacy is due to the competitive antagonism of the renin-mediated conversion of angiotensinogen to Ang I. During aliskiren treatment, PRA and Ang II levels decrease significantly. Unlike β-blockade, in which the PRA level decreases as a consequence of reduced renal secretion of renin, aliskiren treatment decreases PRA in response to the direct, competitive inhibition of renin. Although PRA decreases, the aliskiren-mediated decrease in plasma Ang II level stimulates renal renin secretion. Therefore, although aliskiren and β-blockers both decrease PRA levels, they have divergent effects on the plasma concentration of renin (PRC): β-blockers decrease it and aliskiren increases it. The reactive rise in PRC has potential implications regarding the antihypertensive efficacy of aliskiren - high PRC levels theoretically can overcome the competitive inhibition of renin by aliskiren, thereby increasing PRA, Ang II, and BP.

Aliskiren has been studied as monotherapy and in combination with other antihypertensive drugs, including hydrochlorothiazide, valsartan, and amlodipine. It has not been studied in the presence of a β-blocker. Proposals for future studies include pursuing whether or not there are hypertensives who are resistant to aliskiren, what the mechanism(s) is for the resistance and ways to overcome the resistance.

This is a prospective, open-label study of the effect of the sequential addition of a β-blocker (extended release metoprolol) to aliskiren on the levels of plasma renin activity and plasma renin concentration in subjects with uncomplicated hypertension.

Conditions
Hypertension
Being tested
Aliskiren, Extended-release metoprolol
Medical subject headings
Hypertension

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • AliskirenDrug

    Also called Tekturna

    150mg orally daily for 6 weeks. Dose may increase to 300mg orally daily dependent upon blood pressure parameters set by the protocol.

  • Extended-release metoprololDrug

    Also called Toprol-XL

    50mg orally daily for 1 week, dose will increase to 100mg orally daily or decrease to 25mg daily for a second week dependent upon blood pressure parameters set by the protocol. Subjects will take metoprolol for a total of 2 weeks, then be tapered off of it over 5-7 days.

Study groups in NCT00627861
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Aliskiren and metoprolol succinateExperimentalNot described
Receives: Drug: Aliskiren; Drug: Extended-release metoprolol

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Plasma Renin Concentration

    Measured: 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th weeks

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Plasma Renin Activity

    The blood test, plasma renin activity or PRA, is being measured during the visits outlined.

    Measured: screening, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th weeks

  2. Blood Pressure

    Measured: all visits (weekly for 12 weeks)

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted4 Mar 2008 (estimated)
  2. Study startNov 2008
  3. Primary completionMay 2010
  4. Study completionMay 2010

Why it stopped: The renin laboratory used in the study is no longer available.

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
1 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00627861
Sponsor's protocol ID
0712009564
Status last verified
Oct 2015
First submitted
24 Feb 2008
Last updated
24 Nov 2015
Data monitoring committee
No

Publications

  • Staessen JA, Li Y, Richart T. Oral renin inhibitors. Lancet. 2006 Oct 21;368(9545):1449-56. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69442-7.

    PubMed 17055947
  • Nussberger J, Wuerzner G, Jensen C, Brunner HR. Angiotensin II suppression in humans by the orally active renin inhibitor Aliskiren (SPP100): comparison with enalapril. Hypertension. 2002 Jan;39(1):E1-8. doi: 10.1161/hy0102.102293.

    PubMed 11799102
  • Sealey JE, Laragh JH. Aliskiren, the first renin inhibitor for treating hypertension: reactive renin secretion may limit its effectiveness. Am J Hypertens. 2007 May;20(5):587-97. doi: 10.1016/j.amjhyper.2007.04.001.

    PubMed 17485026
  • Oparil S, Yarows SA, Patel S, Fang H, Zhang J, Satlin A. Efficacy and safety of combined use of aliskiren and valsartan in patients with hypertension: a randomised, double-blind trial. Lancet. 2007 Jul 21;370(9583):221-229. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61124-6.

    PubMed 17658393
  • Blumenfeld JD, Sealey JE, Mann SJ, Bragat A, Marion R, Pecker MS, Sotelo J, August P, Pickering TG, Laragh JH. Beta-adrenergic receptor blockade as a therapeutic approach for suppressing the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Am J Hypertens. 1999 May;12(5):451-9. doi: 10.1016/s0895-7061(99)00005-9.

    PubMed 10342782

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Aliskiren and Extended-release metoprolol in people with Hypertension, run by The Rogosin Institute at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 10 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: stopped early, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Nov 2015. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 28 Sep 2011). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Plasma Renin Concentration (time frame: 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00627861, which also lists 5 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Nov 2015.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in