Predictors of candesartan's effect on vascular reactivity in patients with coronary artery disease

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness have a prognostic value on adverse long‐term outcomes in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. We evaluated the efficacy on vascular reactivity of candesartan and analyzed predictors to control the candesartan's effect on vascular reactivity in CAD patients. METHOD: Patients were prospectively enrolled and prescribed candesartan for 6 months. The effect on vascular reactivity was evaluated by the change in flow‐mediated dilation (FMD) and pulse wave velocity (PWV). RESULTS: A total of 124 patients completed the study. The better responder in FMD change (≥1.3%) showed significantly lower baseline FMD than the poor responder (P < .001). In receiver operating characteristic analysis, baseline FMD 7.5% showed optimal predictive value (sensitivity 79%, specificity 79%) for predicting better responder. The baseline endothelial dysfunction (FMD <7.5%) was the only significant predictor of the better responder to candesartan. The better responder in PWV change (≤−100 cm/s) showed greater blood pressure lowering and significantly higher baseline PWV than the poor responder (both P < .05). The poor responder in both FMD and PWV showed a higher prevalence of previous myocardial infarction (38.7% vs 17.2%, P = .013). CONCLUSION: The candesartan's effect on vascular reactivity is more pronounced in patients with more severe endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness. Poor responders on both FMD and PWV showed higher prevalence of previous myocardial infarction.