Safety profile of perindopril

Approximately 25% of US adults have high blood pressure (BP). Selection of effective and safe antihypertensive therapy for these individuals is an important health-care priority. High BP can be treated with a wide range of antihypertensive agents from a number of different classes. These drugs may differ in their suitability for administration to different subpopulations of patients. Results from both clinical trials and postmarketing surveillance indicate that the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor perindopril erbumine is safe and well tolerated in a wide range of patients with hypertension. Cough, the most common ACE inhibitor–associated side effect, is also the most common clinical adverse event reported for perindopril, but <2% of perindopril-treated patients discontinue therapy because of cough. Other adverse events often associated with ACE inhibitors, first-dose hypotension and hyperkalemia, appear to occur less often with perindopril than with other agents in this class. The favorable safety profile for perindopril extends to a wide range of patients, including the elderly and those with either heart failure or renal disease. Perindopril has no negative effects on lipids in patients with hyperlipidemia or on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and it reduces proteinuria in patients with renal disease. Perindopril has no known clinically significant drug–drug interactions. Thus, perindopril is a safe BP-lowering agent with documented tolerability in a wide range of patients with hypertension.