Effect of captopril on converting enzyme activity in chemically sympathectomized, spontaneously hypertensive rats

Exercise-induced angiogenesis is attenuated by captopril but maintained under perindopril treatment in hypertensive rats

Angiogenesis is an important exercise-induced response to improve blood flow and decrease vascular resistance in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), but some antihypertensive drugs attenuate this effect. This study compared the effects of captopril and perindopril on exercise-induced cardiac and skeletal muscle angiogenesis. Forty-eight Wistar rats and 48 SHR underwent 60 days of aerobic training or were kept sedentary. During the last 45 days, rats were treated with captopril, perindopril or water (Control). Blood pressure (BP) measurements were taken and histological samples from the tibialis anterior (TA) and left ventricle (LV) muscles were analyzed for capillary density (CD) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) protein level. Exercise increased vessel density in Wistar rats due to higher VEGFR-2 (+17%) and eNOS (+31%) protein level. Captopril and perindopril attenuated exercise-induced angiogenesis in Wistar rats, but the attenuation was small in the perindopril group, and this response was mediated by higher eNOS levels in the Per group compared to the Cap group. Exercise increased myocardial CD in Wistar rats in all groups and treatment did not attenuate it. Both exercise and pharmacological treatment reduced BP of SHR similarly. Rarefaction was found in TA of SHR compared to Wistar, due to lower levels of VEGF (-26%) and eNOS (-27%) and treatment did not avoid this response. Exercise prevented these reductions in control SHR. While rats treated with perindopril showed angiogenesis in the TA muscle after training, those rats treated with captopril showed attenuated angiogenesis (-18%). This response was also mediated by lower eNOS levels in Cap group compared with Per and control group. Myocardial CD was reduced in all sedentary hypertensive compared with Wistar and training restored the number of vessels compared with sedentary SHR. In conclusion, taken into account only the aspect of vessel growth, since both pharmacological treatments reduced BP in SHR, the result of the present study suggests that perindopril could be a drug of choice over captopril for hypertensive practitioners of aerobic physical exercises, especially considering that it does not attenuate angiogenesis induced by aerobic physical training in skeletal and cardiac muscles.

Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition and the upper limit of cerebral blood flow autoregulation: effect of sympathetic stimulation

The effect of stimulation of the cervical sympathetic ganglia on the upper limit of cerebral blood flow (CBF) autoregulation was studied in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) following intravenous administration of the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril (10 mg/kg). CBF was measured using the intracarotid 133Xe injection method in halothane/nitrous oxide anaesthetized WKY and SHR. Arterial blood pressure was raised stepwise by the intravenous infusion of noradrenaline. Toward the end of the study, Evans blue was injected and the brains examined for gross blood-brain barrier breakdown. In SHR, sympathetic stimulation reextended the upper limit of CBF autoregulation, which was at a mean arterial blood pressure level of 120-139 mm Hg in the control group of eight SHR and above 170 mm Hg in the stimulated group of nine SHR. In the group of nine WKY subjected to sympathetic stimulation, the upper limit of CBF autoregulation was reached at a mean arterial blood pressure level of 110-129 mm Hg as opposed to 90-109 mm Hg in a previous unstimulated group of WKY. In the two groups subjected to sympathetic stimulation, there was no extravasation of Evans blue in any of the brains. In the control group of SHR, in which there had been marked increases in CBF, three out of eight brains had foci with extravasation of the dye. It is concluded that in normotensive and in hypertensive rats sympathetic stimulation attenuates the downward shift of the upper limit of CBF autoregulation, which is known to accompany intravenous administration of captopril.