Published online before print October 21, 2002, doi: 10.1161/01.HYP.0000039748.88581.A0
(Hypertension. 2002;40:840.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.
Scientific Contributions |
Endothelin-Converting Enzyme Inhibition Ameliorates Angiotensin II–Induced Cardiac Damage
From HELIOS Klinikum-Berlin, Franz Volhard Clinic and Medical Faculty of the Charité, Humboldt University of Berlin (D.N.M., A.M., R.D., A.F., B.P., F.C.L.); Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (D.N.M., F.C.L.), Berlin-Buch; the Department of Medicine-Nephrology, Hannover Medical School (J.-K.P., H.H.), Hannover; and Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (B.-M.L., D.B.-K., S.M., H.D., J.D.A.), Basel, Switzerland.
Correspondence to Dr Friedrich C. Luft, Franz Volhard Clinic, Wiltberg Strasse 50, 13125 Berlin, Germany. E-mail luft{at}fvk-berlin.de
We tested the hypothesis that endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE) inhibition ameliorates end-organ damage in rats harboring both human renin and human angiotensinogen genes (dTGR). Hypertension develops in the animals, and they die by age 7 weeks of heart and kidney failure. Three groups were studied: dTGR (n=12) receiving vehicle, dTGR receiving ECE inhibitor (RO0687629; 30 mg/kg by gavage; n=10), and Sprague-Dawley control rats (SD; n=10) receiving vehicle, all after week 4, with euthanasia at week 7. Systolic blood pressure was not reduced by ECE inhibitor compared with dTGR (205±6 versus 206±6 mm Hg at week 7, respectively). In contrast, ECE inhibitor treatment significantly reduced mortality rate to 20% (2 of 10), whereas untreated dTGR had a 52% mortality rate (7 of 12). ECE inhibitor treatment ameliorated cardiac damage and reduced left ventricular ECE activity below SD levels. Echocardiography at week 7 showed reduced cardiac hypertrophy (4.8±0.2 versus 5.7±0.2 mg/g, P<0.01) and increased left ventricular cavity diameter (5.5±0.3 versus 3.1±0.1 mm, P<0.001) and filling volume (0.42±0.04 versus 0.16±0.06 mL, P<0.05) after ECE inhibitor compared with untreated dTGR. ECE inhibitor treatment also reduced cardiac fibrosis, tissue factor expression, left ventricular basic fibroblast growth factor mRNA levels, and immunostaining in the vessel wall, independent of high blood pressure. In contrast, the ECE inhibitor treatment showed no renoprotective effect. These data are the first to show that ECE inhibition reduces angiotensin II–induced cardiac damage.
Key Words: angiotensin II • enzymes • fibrosis • hypertrophy
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