Eprosartan Mesylate: The safety and efficacy of TEVETEN® has been evaluated in controlled clinical trials worldwide that enrolled predominantly hypertensive patients with sitting DBP ranging from 95 mmHg to ≤115 mmHg. There is also some experience with use of eprosartan together with other antihypertensive drugs in more severe hypertension. The antihypertensive effects of TEVETEN® were demonstrated principally in five placebo-controlled trials (4 to 13 weeks' duration) including dosages of 400 mg to 1200 mg given once daily (two studies), 25 mg to 400 mg twice daily (two studies), and one study comparing total daily doses of 400 mg to 800 mg given once daily or twice daily. The five studies included 1,111 patients randomized to eprosartan and 395 patients randomized to placebo. The studies showed dose-related antihypertensive responses. At study endpoint, patients treated with TEVETEN® at doses of 600 mg to 1200 mg given once daily experienced significant decreases in sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressure at trough, with differences from placebo of approximately 5-10/3-6 mmHg. Limited experience is available with the dose of 1200 mg administered once daily. In a direct comparison of 200 mg to 400 mg b.i.d. with 400 mg to 800 mg q.d. of TEVETEN®, effects at trough were similar. Patients treated with TEVETEN® at doses of 200 mg to 400 mg given twice daily experienced significant decreases in sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressure at trough, with differences from placebo of approximately 7-10/4-6 mmHg. Peak (1 to 3 hours) effects were uniformly, but moderately, larger than trough effects with b.i.d. dosing, with the trough-to-peak ratio for diastolic blood pressure 65% to 80%. In the once-daily dose-response study, trough-to-peak responses of ≤50% were observed at some doses (including 1200 mg), suggesting attenuation of effect at the end of the dosing interval. The antihypertensive effect of TEVETEN® was similar in men and women, but was somewhat smaller in patients over 65. There were too few black subjects to determine whether their response was similar to Caucasians. In general, blacks (usually a low renin population) have had smaller responses to ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II inhibitors than Caucasian populations. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-induced cough (a dry, persistent cough) can lead to discontinuation of ACE inhibitor therapy. In one study, patients who had previously coughed while taking an ACE inhibitor were treated with eprosartan, an ACE inhibitor (enalapril) or placebo for six weeks. The incidence of dry, persistent cough was 2.2% on eprosartan, 4.4% on placebo, and 20.5% on the ACE inhibitor; p=0.008 for the comparison of eprosartan with enalapril. In a second study comparing the incidence of cough in 259 patients treated with eprosartan to 261 patients treated with the ACE inhibitor enalapril, the incidence of dry, persistent cough in eprosartan-treated patients (1.5%) was significantly lower (p=0.018) than that observed in patients treated with the ACE inhibitor (5.4%). In addition, analysis of overall data from six double-blind clinical trials involving 1,554 patients showed an incidence of spontaneously reported cough in patients treated with eprosartan of 3.5%, similar to placebo (2.6%). 

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Hydrochlorothiazide: After oral administration of hydrochlorothiazide, diuresis begins within 2 hours, peaks in about 4 hours, and lasts about 6 to 12 hours. 

Eprosartan Mesylate – Hydrochlorothiazide: Four adequate and well-controlled studies were conducted to assess the antihypertensive effectiveness of TEVETEN HCT®/(Eprosartan Mesylate/ hydrochlorothiazide) in 1457 patients with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension. In a 2x2 factorial study with 112-119 hypertensive patients per arm, the mean baseline- and placebo-subtracted reductions in blood pressure at 8 weeks were 3.6/2.1 mmHg on eprosartan 600 mg, 5.6/1.9 mmHg on hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg, and 10.0/5.0 mmHg on the combination.