The effects of 12 weeks' administration of the beta-blocker pindolol (5 mg twice daily) on serum lipids, apolipoproteins (apo), and lipoproteins were studied in 20 normolipidemic patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension (WHO I-II). Pindolol significantly increased both high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), while very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) was significantly decreased. Apo A-II levels were increased significantly and the apo B/apo A-I ratio, which is one of the atherogenic indexes, was decreased significantly after pindolol therapy. Total cholesterol, HDL subfraction cholesterols, the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, triglycerides, apo A-I, apo B, apo C-II, apo C-III, and apo E did not change significantly.