Today’s journal club was on Aliskiren (Tekturna)combined with Losartan versus Losartan alone from the NEJM and Benazepril + Amlodipine (Lotrel) versus ACEi + HCTZ (Lotensin HCT) from KI. Both studies use change in albuminuria for the primary endpoint.
The Aliskiren study had an expected outcome. The shocker would have been if it had gone the other way. The surprising thing was how close they came to showing an actual decrease in progression (p=0.07) in only 6 months and with only 600 patients. Looks like aliskiren + ARB is a lock to slow the progression to doubling of creatinine and prevention of dialysis.
The Guard study was a surprise because the old generic lowered albuminuria more than the new hotness Lotrel. A lot of spin in the discussion on why that may have occurred.