title: Effects of losartan, a nonpeptide angiotensin II receptor antagonist, on cardiac hypertrophy and the tissue angiotensin II content in spontaneously hypertensive rats.
abstract: Losartan, a recently developed nonpeptide angiotensin II (Ang II) receptor antagonist, was administered orally to 10-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) for 2 weeks. Cardiac weight and tissue Ang II, as well as plasma renin activity (PRA) and Ang II, were determined. Treatment with Losartan (10 mg/kg per day) lowered blood pressure markedly. Losartan reduced significantly the left ventricular weight by 11% compared with control rats. The left ventricular Ang II content was lowered by Losartan (18.6 +/- 0.9 pg/tissue; 21.9 +/- 0.9 pg/tissue, control, p less than 0.05), whereas PRA and plasma Ang II concentration were increased by the treatment. With the control and Losartan-treated animals, there was a significant positive correlation between the left ventricular weight and the tissue Ang II content (r = 0.563, p less than 0.05). These results provide evidence that cardiac tissue Ang II, rather than circulating Ang II, plays an important role in the pathophysiology of left ventricular hypertrophy of this animal model of human hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Fukushima Medical College, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niimura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukuchi
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019808:Losartan; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood; D013777:Tetrazoles / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D007093:Imidazoles; D013777:Tetrazoles; D000804:Angiotensin II; D012083:Renin; D019808:Losartan