Comparison of the antihypertensive effect of enalapril and propranolol in black South Africans

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are useful antihypertensive agents. Enalapril maleate is a new ACE inhibitor with actions similar to those of captopril but with fewer side-effects. A study was conducted on 19 black South Africans with mild or moderate essential hypertension; enalapril was compared with propranolol as monotherapy or together with hydrochlorothiazide in a 1-year randomized, double-blind, parallel study. Neither enalapril nor propranolol alone produced consistent, significant reductions in blood pressure. There were no significant differences between the blood pressure responses to enalapril and to propranolol (either with or without hydrochlorothiazide). It is concluded that neither enalapril nor propranolol is effective as monotherapy in the treatment of hypertension in South African blacks, but that both require the addition of a thiazide diuretic.