CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS ON AN ANTIHYPERTENSIVE CHLOROTHIAZIDE ANALOGUE DEVOID OF DIURETIC ACTIVITY

Abstract

When 3 mg/kg of diazoxide (7-chloro-3-methyl-l,2,4-benzothiadiazine-l,l-dioxide) was injected intravenously, the blood pressure was reduced an average of 26/16 mm Hg in 7 hypertensive patients. This was accompanied by an increase in the cardiac output (0.7 to 5.7 1/minute) and a decrease in peripheral vascular resistance. There was no postural hypotension and no alteration in the external salt balance or in the concentration of serum Na or K. When diazoxide was given orally (0.2 to 0.5 g/day for 8 to 50 weeks) the blood pressure was lowered more than 15/10 mm Hg in 26 of 30 hypertensive subjects. In addition there was a gain in weight in 26, anorexia in 15, lacrimation in 6, aggravation of diabetes in 2, and transient cardiac arrythmias in 4 of the 30 patients. The results suggest that diazoxide acts directly on the arterioles to reduce peripheral vascular resistance.