Objective    To investigate effect of Xuezhikang capsule (a statin product from Chinese Herbs)or pravastatin (a chemosynthesis statin) combined with antihypertensive drugs on the serum levels of NO

ET

hs-CRP

IL-1 and TNF-α in essential hypertensive (EH) patients.     Methods    Thirty healthy individuals were enrolled as normal control. One hundred and fifty EH patients admitted in our departments from Dec. 2006 to Jun. 2008 were enrolled and randomly divided into 3 groups

the antihypertensive drugs treatment group (ATH group

n=50)

the pravastatin treatment group (PRA group

n=50) and the Xuezhikang treatment group (XZK group

n=50). Patients in the 3 groups were treated with routine antihypertensive drugs

in addition

pravastatin (20 mg every night) and Xuezhikang (0.6 g/time

twice a day) were given to PRA group and XZK group respectively. Serum NO

ET

hs-CRP

IL-1 and TNF-α were detected before and after eight-week treatment.     Results    Compared with healthy individuals

serum NO was decreased (P0.01)

and ET

hs-CRP

IL-1 and TNF-α were increased significantly in EH patients (P0.01). There were only 130 EH patients who finished this study

including 42 cases in ATH group

43 cases in PRA group and 45 cases in XZK group. After the treatment

serum NO in PRA group and XZK group was significantly higher than in the ATH group (P0.01). Serum ET

hs-CRP

IL-1 and TNF-α in PRA group and XZK group were obviously superior to that in the ATH group (P0.01). No significant difference was found between the pravastatin group and the XZK group.     Conclusion    Xuezhikang or pravastatin combined with the blood pressure controlled by antihypertensive drugs can improve endothelial function and inhibit inflammatory response in EH patients.