This multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group study compared the antihypertensive effects of two angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, lisinopril and captopril, in 70 patients (35 lisinopril, 35 captopril) with mild-to-moderate essential hypertension. Doses of 10, 20, and 40 mg once-daily lisinopril or 25, 50, and 100 mg bid captopril were increased at biweekly intervals until patients responded to treatment, as defined by a decrease in office diastolic pressure to less than 90 mm Hg or at least a 10 mm Hg decrease from baseline. Patients who responded to a 2-week titration dose remained at that dose for another 2 weeks. Blood pressure assessments were made using both office and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Area under the curve analysis of ambulatory blood pressure reductions showed significant differences between treatment groups for both systolic (P = .023) and diastolic (P = .007) blood pressures, with lisinopril-treated patients showing the most significant reduction in pressure. Greater reductions (P less than .05) were also noted in patients receiving lisinopril at hours 10 to 12, suggesting two blood pressure troughs for those receiving captopril. Both drugs were well tolerated, and no patients withdrew from either treatment group. The authors concluded that after at least 4 weeks of therapy, once-daily lisinopril administration was more effective than twice-daily captopril administration in reducing blood pressure, when measured by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

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The Veterans Health Administration clinical guideline for major depressive disorder was used in screening 574 male veterans treated in primary care settings in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system. Thirteen percent (N=73) screened positive for depression, and 33 percent of those patients showed evidence of a major depressive episode. Pre- and posttreatment assessment of a sample of 16 patients treated for depression in a primary care setting revealed statistically significant improvement with treatment.