Differential screening captopril responsive genes in the heart of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Objective: To determine whether administiation of captopril, an ACE inhibitor, can induce unique gene expression in hearts from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Methods: Differential screening was used to isolate captopril response genes through a human fetal cDNA library, and reverse northern blot technique was applied to analyze gene expression. Results: Administration of captopril in SHR significantly lowered blood pressure, heart rate (HR), and the ratio of heart to body weight was compared with untreated SHR. Three captopril responsive cDNA sequences (expreed sequence tags, ESTs) were identified. One ESTs were highly homologous to human mitochondria gene and other 2 were novel and unknown genes. Conclusion: The benefit of captopril may be mediated, at least in part, by having an effect on the expression of a specific gene involved in cardiac remodeling and function in essential hypertension.