Treatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats with enalapril or amlodipine resulted in regression of cardiovascular hypertrophy and amelioration of endothelial dysfunction.
Does enalapril or amlodipine improve small-artery structure and endothelial dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats?
Enalapril and amlodipine regress cardiovascular hypertrophy and ameliorate endothelial dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, enalapril, and a dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, amlodipine, regress the altered structure, media composition, and vascular relaxation of small arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats. METHODS: Spontaneously hypertensive rats aged 10 weeks were treated for 12 weeks with 10 mg/kg per day enalapril or 10-20 mg/kg per day amlodipine and compared with age-matched untreated spontaneously hypertensive rats. Small coronary, renal, mesenteric, and femoral arteries (lumen diameter 200-250 microm) were studied isometrically on a wire myograph, and mesenteric arteries isobarically as pressurized vessels. The composition of the vascular media of the latter was studied by electron microscopy. RESULTS: Blood pressure, and cardiac and aortic hypertrophy were reduced in treated spontaneously hypertensive rats. Treatment significantly decreased media thickness and media: lumen ratio of coronary, renal, mesenteric, and femoral small arteries studied isometrically and of pressurized mesenteric small arteries. Media cross-sectional area was smaller for coronary arteries studied isometrically and mesenteric arteries studied isobarically. Electron microscopic analysis revealed an increase in collagen: elastin ratio in the media of spontaneously hypertensive rat vessels, and a decrease under treatment to levels found in Wistar-Kyoto rats, with no significant changes detected in smooth muscle cells. The amplitude of contractions induced by acetylcholine on wire-myograph-mounted mesenteric arteries from spontaneously hypertensive rats were decreased by treatment, and relaxation of pressurized arteries induced by acetylcholine was normalized. CONCLUSION: Treatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats with enalapril or with amlodipine resulted in regression of cardiovascular hypertrophy and amelioration of endothelial dysfunction. Morphometric results obtained using an isometric myograph and a pressurized preparation to study rat small arteries were closely correlated. Regression of structural remodeling in small arteries was outward hypotrophic, with a reduction in the collagen: elastin ratio, and without net change in the absolute and relative volumes of smooth muscle and number of smooth muscle layers.
Sharifi et al. (Wed,) conducted a other in Hypertension. Enalapril and amlodipine vs. Age-matched untreated spontaneously hypertensive rats was evaluated on Small-artery structure, media composition, and vascular relaxation. Treatment of spontaneously hypertensive rats with enalapril or amlodipine resulted in regression of cardiovascular hypertrophy and amelioration of endothelial dysfunction.