The effect of Ca2+ channel antagonists on plasma concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 in essential hypertension.

The ability of some antihypertensive drugs to protect from vascular damage in hypertension might be partially due to their ability to control matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-mediated extracellular matrix metabolism, which in turn may contribute to vascular remodeling. This study was designed to investigate whether treatment with felodipine or diltiazem has any effect on plasma levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in essential hypertensive patients. We measured plasma levels of active MMP-2 and MMP-9 in 72 hypertensive subjects and 45 controls, both before and after 6 months of treatment with felodipine (group A) or diltiazem (group B). Mean adjusted differences, before and after each treatment, for MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels were: 19.8 (P =.01) for MMP-2, 0.2 (P =.5) for MMP-9 (group A), and 1.4 (P =.4) for MMP-2, 0.2 (P =.7) for MMP-9 (group B). These findings show that MMP-2 level is raised by treatment with felodipine but not diltiazem, whereas MMP-9 is unaffected by either treatment.