Clinical and Experimental Hypertension (Aug 2021)

Effects of physical exercise combined with captopril or losartan on left ventricular hypertrophy of hypertensive rats

  • Quênia Janaína Tomaz de Castro,
  • Carolina Morais Araujo,
  • Patrícia Yoshie Watai,
  • Samara Stéfani de Castro e Silva,
  • Wanderson Geraldo de Lima,
  • Lenice Kappes Becker,
  • Jamille Locatelli,
  • Homero Nogueira Guimarães,
  • Andrea Grabe-Guimarães

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/10641963.2021.1907399
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 43, no. 6
pp. 536 – 549

Abstract

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Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an endpoint of hypertensive cardiac alterations. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers are among the most effective on LVH regression. Physical exercise combined to antihypertensive drug contributes to arterial pressure (AP) control and LVH prevention. We evaluated the effects of physical exercise combined to captopril or losartan during eight weeks for spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) on some cardiac parameters. Methods: SHR (n=5-6 per group) were sedentary or trained 5 days a week in treadmill during 8 weeks; and they were treated with daily oral captopril (12.5, 25, or 50mg/kg), losartan (2.5, 5, or 10mg/kg), or vehicle. At the end, it was obtained systolic AP (SAP), electrocardiogram (ECG), and hearts metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) activity and histology. Results: Captopril 25 and 50 mg/kg, and losartan 10 mg/kg lowered SAP of sedentary and trained SHR. Losartan 5 mg/kg combined with physical exercise also lowered SAP. Combined with exercise, captopril 50 mg/kg lowered 13.6% of QT interval, 14.2% of QTc interval, and 22.8% of Tpeak-Tend compared to sedentary SHR. Losartan 5 and 10mg/kg lowered QT interval of sedentary and trained SHR. Losartan 2.5, 5 and 10mg/kg combined with physical exercise lowered respectively 25.4%, 24.8%, and 31.8% of MMP-2 activity. Losartan (10mg/kg) combined with exercise reduced cardiomyocyte diameter. Conclusion: These data support the hypothesis of physical exercise combined with RAAS blockers could improve the benefits on hypertensive LVH treatment.

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