Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0018801 (heart failure)
 72,216 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are widely used in the treatment of heart failure. It is not known whether the beneficial effects of ACE inhibition are only due to a reduction in pre- and afterload or whether ACE inhibition also has direct effects on cardiac remodeling processes after myocardial infarction. In addition, the effects of differential timing of the treatment are not known. The left coronary artery was ligated in rats to induce a myocardial infarction. Control rats received no treatment. Captopril was given via s.c. placed minipumps (500 micrograms/kg.h) in the first 3 weeks or in the third and fourth week after induction of the myocardial infarction. The structural changes of the heart were investigated. Early after ligation the left ventricle was dilated in association with a marked, but transient DNA synthesis in the remaining left ventricle; the amount of collagen also increased. Early captopril treatment blocked this response, while late treatment had no effects. We suggest that the negative effects of early captopril treatment are due to an interference with the normal adaptive responses of the heart to the loss of muscle, probably through interactions at the cellular level.
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PMID:Angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitors and cardiac remodeling. 182 81

Angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibition by captopril and enalapril may influence sodium and potassium homeostasis. In patients without cardiac failure and with normal renal function significant electrolyte disturbances rarely occur. We report on four patients who developed life-threatening electrolyte disturbances following treatment with enalapril for severe cardiac failure (NYHA-class II-IV). There were important concomitant factors in all four cases: in one case under additional medication with a thiazide diuretic and a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory, hyponatremia of 107 mmol/l occurred. In two further cases severe hyperkalemia of 7.4 and 7.3 mmol/l was observed in the presence of acute renal failure due to enalapril-induced hypotension and concomitant therapy with a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug respectively. In a fourth case the combination of enalapril with a potassium-sparing diuretic provoked severe hyperkalemia of 7.9 mmol/l.
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PMID:[Severe electrolyte disorders during the therapy of heart failure with the therapy of heart failure with the ACE-inhibitor enalapril]. 302 72