MicroRNAs mediate the cardioprotective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in acute kidney injury

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease, including cardiac hypertrophy, is common in patients with kidney disease and can be partially attenuated using blockers of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). It is unknown whether cardiac microRNAs contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy or to the protective effect of RAS blockade in kidney disease. Using a subtotal nephrectomy rat model of kidney injury, we investigated changes in cardiac microRNAs that are known to have direct target genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis, fibrosis, and hypertrophy. The effect of treatment with the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor ramipril on cardiac microRNAs was also investigated. Kidney injury l..