A Study To Evaluate The Efficacy Of Eplerenone Compared With Losartan For The Treatment Of Patients With Mild To Moderate Hypertension

• Drug: eplerenone
  
  Eplerenone 50 mg oral film-coated tablet once daily for 8 weeks. If blood pressure was uncontrolled (DBP ? 90 mmHg) at Week 4, the dose was increased to eplerenone 100 mg oral film-coated tablet once daily for 4 weeks.
• Drug: Losartan
  
  Losartan 50 mg oral capsule once daily for 8 weeks. If blood pressure was uncontrolled (DBP ? 90 mmHg) at Week 4, the dose was increased to losartan 100 mg oral capsule once daily for 4 weeks

• Experimental: Eplerenone group
  
  Intervention: Drug: eplerenone
• Active Comparator: Losartan group
  
  Intervention: Drug: Losartan

Inclusion Criteria:

• History of mild to moderate hypertension, or newly diagnosed hypertension, defined as seDBP ?90 mmHg and <110 mmHg and seSBP <180 mmHg
• Withdrawal of all previous antihypertensives prior to the single-blind placebo run-in period and the double-blind treatment period

Exclusion Criteria:

• Secondary hypertension (e.g., renal, renovascular, or adrenocortical disease, pheochromocytoma, Cushing's syndrome, primary aldosteronism, iatrogenic), severe hypertension, or malignant hypertension
• The patient cannot withdraw from antihypertensives by any route including diuretics, alpha-blockers, betablockers, calcium channel blockers, ACE-I, ARB, or other medications affecting blood pressure; patients who have stable angina and have not had their nitrate dosage changed within the past three months (i.e., on a stable maintenance dose) are eligible for this study; sildenafil citrate, theophylline, or papaverine must not be taken within 24 hours prior to a clinic visit