Effect of chronic atenolol therapy on the cardiovascular response to handgrip in hypertensive patients

Response to sustained (three-minute) handgrip at one-third maximum contraction was studied in 75 subjects with essential hypertension. The patients responded with an increase in heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and double product. Chronic atenolol therapy (100 mg/day in a single administration) decreased the values of these measurements at rest and during exercise. The treatment did not prevent or attenuate the rise in heart rate with grip, but it partially inhibited the pressor response to handgrip. Chronic atenolol therapy may reduce the risk of vascular disease by decreasing blood pressure and its response to isometric exercise. Additionally, chronic beta-adrenergic blockade with decreased heart rate, double product, and, most likely, myocardial oxygen consumption is probably a further cardioprotective factor