Aims: To investigate the relationship between advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and diastolic function and the response to blood pressure treatment in patients with hypertension and diastolic dysfunction.
Methods and results: Data were analysed from 97 patients (aged 65 +/- 10 years, 36% male) who were randomly assigned to 6 months open-label treatment with either eprosartan on top of other anti-hypertensive drugs (n = 47) or other anti-hypertensive drugs alone (n = 50). Tissue AGE accumulation was measured using a validated skin-autofluorescence (skin-AF) reader (n = 26). Plasma N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), N(epsilon)-(carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL), and pentosidine were measured by LC-MS/MS and HPLC. Diastolic function was assessed using echocardiography. Blood pressure was reduced from 157/91 to 145/84 mmHg (P < 0.001) in the eprosartan group and from 158/91 to 141/83 mmHg (P < 0.001) in the control group. No effect of eprosartan was found on AGE levels. In patients with baseline skin-AF < median, E/A ratio (P = 0.04) and the mean peak early-diastolic filling velocity (E') improved (P = 0.001). In contrast, in patients with skin-AF levels > median, E/A ratio (P = 0.84) and mean E' (P = 0.32) remained unchanged.
Conclusion: Although eprosartan did not decrease levels of AGEs, patients with lower skin-AF at baseline showed a larger improvement in diastolic function in response to either anti-hypertensive treatment compared with patients with higher skin-AF.