F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd , Basel , Switzerland .
Basic Res Cardiol 86 Suppl 1 : 65-74 ( 1991)
Abstract
Smooth muscle cell proliferation and formation of extracellular matrix in the intima of muscular arteries after vascular injury can lead to severe intimal hyperplasia and stenosis .
Cilazapril reduces intimal hyperplasia induced by balloon catheterization of the rat carotid artery by 80% , and significantly decreases the surface area covered by proliferative lesions .
We investigated the effects of angiotensin II ( A II ) on SMC proliferation in cell culture and A-II induction of selected growth factor or growth-related genes in SMC in culture : PDGF A chain , TGF-beta , thrombospondin , c-myc and c-fos , and compared the influence of cilazapril on these responses to A II .
A-II induced SMC proliferation , stimulated mRNAs for c-myc and c-fos after 30 min , and stimulated mRNAs for PDGF A chain , TGF-beta , and thrombospondin somewhat later .
The ACE inhibitor did not have detectable independent effects on the A-II induced proliferation or gene expression .
Thus , these data support the conclusion that cilazapril suppresses SMC proliferation in vivo through the block of conversion of A I to A II , and that A II has a critical and central role in the control of the proliferative response after balloon catheter-induced vascular injury .