Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition prolongs survival and modifies the transition to heart failure in rats with pressure overload hypertrophy due to ascending aortic stenosis.

Abstract

In rats with ascending aortic stenosis, chronic ACE inhibition with fosinopril improved survival, decreased the extent of LV hypertrophy, and improved cardiac function despite persistent elevation of LV systolic pressure. The favorable effects of fosinopril may be related in part to inhibition of the effects of cardiac ACE on myocyte hypertrophy rather than to systemic hemodynamic mechanisms.