Terazosin, a new selective alpha 1-adrenergic blocking agent. Results of long-term treatment in patients with essential hypertension.

The long-term treatment of essential hypertension with terazosin, a new once-a-day alpha 1-adrenergic blocking agent, was evaluated in 364 hypertensive patients who received total daily doses of 1 to 40 mg for 3 weeks to 56 months. Consistent mean decreases in supine and standing systolic and diastolic blood pressures were observed throughout the study for patients treated with terazosin as monotherapy (supine, 9 to 12/10 to 13 mm Hg; and standing, 12 to 18/11 to 14 mm Hg) or in combination with other antihypertensive agents (supine, 12 to 16/12 to 15 mm Hg; and standing, 16 to 22/13 to 19 mm Hg). The most commonly reported adverse experiences were dizziness, headache, asthenia, cold symptoms, and nasal congestion. Adverse effects and metabolic disorders often associated with diuretics and beta blockers such as sexual dysfunction, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, hypokalemia, or adverse lipid effects were seen infrequently during long-term treatment with terazosin as monotherapy. Overall, terazosin was shown to be effective, safe, and well tolerated by most patients.

Chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide residues in Tennessee honey and beeswax.

Several samples of commercial grade honey collected from different parts of tennessee during the summer of 1973 were analyzed for chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide (CHI) residues. A "Modified Mill's Procedure" was used to cleanup the samples prior to gas chromatographic analysis using electron capture (EC) detection. The presence of CHI residues was confirmed by analysis on three different columns of widely varying polarity. Most of the samples contained CHI residues at 0.01-0.30 parts per billion (ppb) level. Beeswax produced during the same season contained several times higher levels of the residue than the honey samples. Recoveries of CHI residues varied from 81-95 percent by the procedure employed.

The effects of terazosin and methyclothiazide on blood pressure and serum lipids.

This study compared the antihypertensive efficacy and the effects on serum lipids of terazosin, a new selective alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist, of methyclothiazide (MCTZ), and of the two drugs used as combination therapy. Adult patients with supine diastolic blood pressure ranging from 95 to 120 mm Hg were eligible to enter this double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study. Analyses of the blood pressure data from the 194 evaluable patients revealed that all three treatments produced significant (p less than 0.001) reductions in supine and standing systolic and diastolic blood pressures from baseline values. Moreover, combination therapy resulted in significantly greater mean blood pressure reductions than were observed with either drug used as monotherapy. In the group receiving terazosin monotherapy, the total serum cholesterol level, low-density lipoprotein plus very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol fraction, and triglyceride level fell significantly (median changes of 3.7%, 5.0%, and 16.3%, respectively, p less than 0.05). However, in the group receiving MCTZ monotherapy, the total serum cholesterol level, low-density lipoprotein plus very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol fraction, and triglyceride level increased significantly (4.7%, 7.1%, and 12.5%, respectively, p less than 0.001). In contrast, no significant changes from baseline values were observed for any lipid variable in the group receiving terazosin/MCTZ combination therapy. We conclude that terazosin is effective antihypertensive therapy that has a potentially beneficial effect on the serum lipid profile when used as monotherapy and that it counteracts the negative impact of MCTZ monotherapy on the serum lipid profile when used concurrently with this thiazide diuretic.