Tripamide is an experimental
sulfonamide-derived
diuretic antihypertensive agent. Twenty-four hospitalized patients with
essential hypertension received placebo followed by 10, 25, 50, or 100 mg of
tripamide daily in a randomized, double-blind design. All doses of
tripamide significantly lowered standing arterial pressure. Changes in blood pressure, heart rate, and weight were not dose related, but the decrease in mean arterial pressure was significantly related to both age (P less than 0.02) and pretreatment blood pressure (P less than 0.05). Serum
potassium levels were lowered significantly by the 25 and 100 mg daily doses of
tripamide, whereas all doses of
tripamide significantly reduced serum
chloride levels and produced an increase in serum
uric acid levels. Disparate time courses of
antihypertensive and
diuretic effects and the lack of a relationship between the increase in urine volume and the change in blood pressure suggest an additional
antihypertensive action of
tripamide or a delayed physiologic adaptation to volume depletion. Equal
antihypertensive effects over the range of 10 to 100 mg/day, but greater
hypokalemia at higher doses, suggest that future studies should employ the lower doses of
tripamide.