title: Control of hypertension by verapamil enhances renal damage in a rat remnant kidney model.
abstract: The effect of calcium channel blockers on the progression of renal failure is controversial. In contrast with earlier studies, we recently reported that moderately large doses of verapamil significantly accelerated chronic renal failure in the rat remnant kidney model. Studies reporting beneficial effects of verapamil were characterised by a much lower dose of verapamil and by the start of treatment immediately after renal ablation, which potentially interfered with the initial phase of remnant kidney hypertrophy. We therefore studied the effects of a high, fully antihypertensive oral dose of verapamil (100-150 mg/kg/per day; group Vera high) and a low, haemodynamically almost ineffective dose (10-15 mg/kg per day; group Vera low), on the progression of chronic renal failure in female Wistar rats with 5/6 nephrectomy. The treatment was started no earlier than 5 weeks after renal ablation, and matched groups of 20 animals were followed for 16 weeks thereafter. High-dose verapamil reduced systolic blood pressure to median values of 130-140 mmHg throughout the experimental period, whereas blood pressure in Vera low animals remained elevated at median values of 165-172 mmHg similar to non-treated rats with 172-185 mmHg median systolic blood pressure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine, University of Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hermle
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiel
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mihatsch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D009392:Nephrectomy; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000139:chemically induced; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014700:Verapamil / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014700:Verapamil