Fibrinolysis has an important role to play in atherogenesis. A study published in Clinical Drug Investigation explored the effects of cilnidipine on fibrinolysis in hypertensive patients. This was an open label paired trial including 43 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. Following a 2 week placebo washout period patients were given cilnidipine 5mg daily for 8 weeks. After treatment with cilnidipine plasma tissue plasminogen activator tPA antigen level increased significantly from 12.12 6.77 ng mL pre treatment to 16.12 11.89 ng mL post treatment. The plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 PAI 1 antigen level was unaffected. SBP and DBP were significantly decreased without changes in heart rate. The findings thus suggest that cilnidipine may improve fibrinolytic balance is effective in treating hypertension without causing reflex tachycardia.