The long-acting ACE inhibitor, perindopril ['Aceon'], is effective in the treatment of mild-to-moderate hypertension, according to results from the open-label Aceon Community Trial (ACT) presented at the 17th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Hypertension [New York, US; May 2002]. Significant reductions in BP were achieved in the majority of patients treated with perindopril 4mg after 6 weeks; in the remainder of patients, BP was reduced by titration of the dose to 8mg. Overall, sitting systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were reduced by a mean of 17.5 and 10.7mm Hg, respectively. Subgroup analysis of data from this study showed that perindopril had comparable efficacy to that observed in the general population in elderly and African-American patients, and those who were receiving oral antihyperglycaemic agents for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.