Cardiac transplantation, perindopril, and left ventricular hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Abstract

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors reduce blood pressure and cardiac mass but may also have a direct effect on myocardial growth. To test this hypothesis, we studied the effects of perindopril on the weight of transplanted hearts in which the left ventricle does not pump blood. Hearts were transplanted between littermate 10-week-old male spontaneously hypertensive rats, and recipients were treated for 2 weeks with vehicle (n=10), perindopril (3 mg/kg per day) (n=9), perindopril (3 mg/kg per day) plus the selective bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist Hoe 140 (500 μg/kg per day) (n=13), or angiotensin II (200 ng/kg per minute) (n=12). Perindopril reduced blood pressure and native left vent..