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

An association between raised renin levels and myocardial infarction has been reported. We studied the effects of enalapril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, on the development of myocardial infarction and unstable angina in 6797 patients with ejection fractions < or = 0.35 enrolled into the two Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) trials. Patients were randomly assigned to placebo (n = 3401) or enalapril (n = 3396) at doses of 2.5-20 mg per day in two concurrent double-blind trials with the same protocol. Patients with heart failure entered the treatment trial (n = 2569) and those without heart failure entered the prevention trial (n = 4228). Follow-up averaged 40 months. In each trial there were significant reductions in the number of patients developing myocardial infarction (treatment trial: 158 placebo vs 127 enalapril, p < 0.02; prevention trial: 204 vs 161 p < 0.01) or unstable angina (240 vs 187 p < 0.001; 355 vs 312, p < 0.05). Combined, there were 362 placebo group patients with myocardial infarction compared with 288 in the enalapril group (risk reduction 23%, 95% CI 11-34%; p < 0.001). 595 placebo group patients developed unstable angina compared with 499 in the enalapril group (risk reduction 20%, 95% CI 9-29%, p < 0.001). There was also a reduction in cardiac deaths (711 placebo, 615 enalapril; p < 0.003), so that the reduction in the combined endpoint of deaths, myocardial infarction, and unstable angina was highly significant (20% risk reduction, 95% CI 14-26%; p < 0.0001). Enalapril treatment significantly reduced myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and cardiac mortality in patients with low ejection fractions.
 ...
PMID:Effect of enalapril on myocardial infarction and unstable angina in patients with low ejection fractions. 136 36

Ultrafiltration improves the clinical condition of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) through a reduction of excessive body water. We investigated the relationships among intra and extravascular fluids, hemodynamics and neurohumoral pattern following plasma water subtraction. In 55 patients with CHF (35 in NYHA class IV, Group A, and 20 in NYHA class II-III, Group B), removal of 3242 +/- 201 ml and 1741 +/- 119 ml of plasma water acutely reduced plasma volume (calculated from hematocrit changes) by -20.7% and -12.9% in Group A and in Group B, respectively. Plasma volume returned to baseline values within 48 hours. Body weight and ventricular filling pressures also lowered and remained so for 2 days. After ultrafiltration urinary output increased and norepinephrine, renin activity and aldosterone plasma levels decreased in Group A, while a fall of diuresis and a rapid rise of plasma levels of the 3 hormones were observed in Group B. Two days after ultrafiltration the persistence of reduced body weight with recovery of plasma volume indicates a shift of fluid from the extravascular to the intravascular compartment. The different behaviour of hemodynamics, urinary output and neurohumoral pattern changes observed in the 2 groups after ultrafiltration, suggest that in severe heart failure (Group A) the physiological responses to intravascular volume depletion are unsettled while are preserved in less severe stages of the disease (Group B).
 ...
PMID:[Interrelation of plasma volume, fluid metabolism and neurohormonal activation after ultrafiltration in congestive heart failure]. 136 83

The major risk factor associated with the appearance of adverse cardiovascular events and outcome attributable to cardiovascular disease is left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Why this should be so resides not in the increase in myocardial mass per se, but in the disruption of myocardial structure. An abnormal accumulation of fibrillar collagen within the adventitia of intramyocardial coronary arteries and neighboring interstitial spaces represents such a distortion in structure. Furthermore, this fibrosis disrupts the electrical and mechanical behavior of the hypertrophied myocardium. Mechanisms responsible for fibrillar collagen accumulation have been examined in intact animals and cultured cardiac fibroblasts. In vivo studies indicate that myocardial fibrosis is associated with the presence of chronic mineralocorticoid excess, relative to sodium intake and excretion, not hemodynamic workload. Accordingly, fibrosis can appear in both the hypertensive, hypertrophied and nonhypertensive, nonhypertrophied ventricles. In both primary and secondary hyperaldosteronism it was possible to prevent myocardial fibrosis with an aldosterone receptor antagonist, while in unilateral renal ischemia angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition was similarly cardioprotective. A regression in fibrous tissue and normalization of diastolic stiffness has also been possible using ACE inhibition, bringing forward the concept of cardioreparation and the notion that heart failure due to fibrosis may be reversible. In vitro studies indicate that effector hormones of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system stimulate fibroblast collagen synthesis. Aldosterone, in pathophysiologic concentrations, and angiotensin II, in much larger concentrations, each enhance collagen synthesis without altering the mitogenic potential of these cells. Thus, elevations in circulating aldosterone and angiotensin II, relative to sodium intake, have the potential to not only alter sodium homeostasis and vascular tonicity, but also the structure of cardiovascular tissue. Thus, myocardial fibrosis represents a structural basis for pathologic hypertrophy and ultimately accounts for the appearance of adverse cardiovascular events and outcomes.
 ...
PMID:Pathologic hypertrophy with fibrosis: the structural basis for myocardial failure. 136 63

Both circulating and local renin-angiotensin systems (RAS) may contribute to cardiovascular homeostasis under normal and pathophysiologic conditions. They may also play a role in the effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. In the present study, we compared systemic and regional hemodynamic effects of nonhypotensive doses of captopril and enalaprilate in normal rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), and rats with heart failure due to myocardial infarction (MI). Enalaprilate (0.1 mg/kg) or captopril (3 mg/kg) was injected intravenously (i.v.) in conscious rats equipped with miniature Doppler flow probes on renal and mesenteric artery and abdominal aorta or an electromagnetic flow probe on the ascending aorta to measure cardiac output (CO). This resulted in a shift of the angiotensin-I (ANG I) dose-pressor curve (ED50 of ANG I after saline 0.21 +/- 0.33 micrograms, enalaprilate 1.45 +/- 0.26 micrograms, captopril 2.38 +/- 0.73 micrograms; mean +/- SEM; n = 6-12). In the systemic hemodynamic groups, no significant changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP), CO, or total peripheral resistance (TPR) were observed. In the regional hemodynamic groups, enalaprilate caused a slight (-8 +/- 1 mm Hg) reduction in MAP in normal rats. Resistance in the hindquarters was not affected by ACE inhibitors, whereas only enalaprilate reduced mesenteric resistance in MI rats. In contrast, renal resistance was reduced and renal blood flow (RBF) increased after captopril in normal and MI rats and after enalaprilate in MI rats. Effects were greatest in MI rats (RBF: saline -0.05 +/- 1.9%, enalaprilate 10.3 +/- 2.4%, captopril 10.1 +/- 2.0%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Renal hemodynamic effects of nonhypotensive doses of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in hypertension and heart failure rats. 137 83

The acute hemodynamic and hormonal effects of incremental doses of a specific ovine renin inhibitor (RI: EMD 52 297) and captopril were compared in an ovine model of heart failure. Both RI and captopril inhibited the renin-angiotensin II (ANG II) system, although the decrease in plasma aldosterone (ALDO) was significant only during captopril infusion. Both agents exhibited strong vasodilator properties with similar decreases in mean arterial pressure (MAP, maximum decrease: RI = -20.5 +/- 2.2 mm Hg, p less than 0.001; captopril = -19.8 +/- 1.7 mm Hg, p less than 0.001) and left atrial pressure (LAP, maximum, decrease: RI = -6.8 +/- 1.5 mm Hg, p less than 0.01; captopril = -6.9 +/- 0.4 mm Hg, p less than 0.01) along with a slight increase in cardiac output (CO, maximum increase: RI = 0.54 +/- 0.11 L/min; captopril = 0.79 +/- 0.26 L/min). The slope of the response between MAP and LAP was similar in all animals, indicating that the agents have a similar effect on cardiac preload and afterload. The similar hemodynamic actions of RI and captopril in this model of congestive heart failure suggest that beneficial effects are due to inhibition of ANG II. Thus, orally active renin inhibitors may offer a useful therapeutic alternative when side effects preclude use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.
 ...
PMID:Comparison of the effect of renin inhibition and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in ovine heart failure. 137 84

In both men and women left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is the major risk factor associated with the appearance of diastolic and/or systolic myocardial failure. It is not the growth of cardiac myocytes, however, that is responsible for an abnormal structural remodeling of the hypertrophied myocardium in pathologic LVH, but instead, nonmyocyte cells whose behavior and growth are altered by chronic elevations in circulating hormones. Hormone-mediated cardiac fibroblast proliferation and/or enhanced collagen synthesis, for example, account for myocardial fibrosis. The signals mediating nonmyocyte cell involvement in LVH may also involve locally generated hormones having paracrine properties. Herein we review experimental findings pertaining to the reparative and reactive fibrosis of the myocardium seen in various forms of acquired and genetic arterial hypertension, where circulating or tissue renin-angiotensin-aldosterone systems are respectively activated. These hormonal systems determine whether myocardial structure will be altered in arterial hypertension and, accordingly, if myocardial failure ensues. The mechanisms by which these hormones lead to myocardial fibrosis remain to be elucidated and correspondingly will determine if fibrosis can be effectively prevented. At the same time, experimental strategies that regress excess collagen in LVH have been identified, but need to be developed further to determine if myocardial failure, caused by fibrosis, is indeed reversible in humans.
 ...
PMID:Myocardial fibrosis and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. 138 Jun 19

The pharmacokinetics of synthetic atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and its effects on cyclic GMP, urinary sodium excretion, and hemodynamics were compared in 18 control subjects with normal hemodynamics and 12 patients with severe heart failure. Human 99-126 ANF was administered intravenously (0.2 micrograms/kg i.v. followed by 0.07 micrograms/kg/min for 30 min). As compared with controls, baseline plasma ANF concentration was higher in the heart failure group (329.2 +/- 166.1 vs. 33.6 +/- 17.3 pg/ml in controls, means +/- SD, p less than 0.01). Synthetic ANF increased plasma ANF concentration by similar amounts, but the elimination half-life (t 1/2) for synthetic ANF was longer in the heart failure group (6.5 +/- 2.6 vs. 3.8 +/- 0.8 min, p less than 0.05). Baseline plasma cyclic GMP concentration was higher in the heart failure group (13.8 +/- 6.8 vs. 4.2 +/- 2.2 pmol/ml, p less than 0.01) but ANF increased plasma cyclic GMP concentration to a lesser degree (14.4 +/- 7.6 pmol/ml, p less than 0.05 vs. 24.9 +/- 10.1 pmol/ml, p less than 0.001). Baseline urinary sodium excretion was less in the heart failure group (13.3 +/- 14.0 vs. 53.7 +/- 37.3 mumol/min, p less than 0.01) and ANF induced a smaller increase in urinary sodium excretion (22.1 +/- 32.3 mumol/min, p less than 0.05 vs. 305.7 +/- 242.9 mumol/min, p less than 0.001). Baseline plasma norepinephrine (NE), renin, and aldosterone were higher in the heart failure group. Synthetic ANF increased plasma NE only in the control group, had no effect on renin, and decreased aldosterone in both groups. Hemodynamic responses were similar in both groups except the decreased arterial blood pressure (BP) was accompanied by increased heart rate (HR) only in the controls. Therefore, in heart failure, the t 1/2 of ANF is prolonged and there appears to be a limit for further increase in cyclic GMP. These changes may explain in part the blunted renal response to ANF.
 ...
PMID:Atrial natriuretic factor: pharmacokinetics and cyclic GMP response in relation to biologic effects in severe heart failure. 138 66

Treatment of male rabbits with adriamycin at a cardiotoxic dose (1 mg/kg intravenously, i.v., twice a week for 9 weeks) caused cardiovascular disturbances characteristic of chronic heart failure. The severity of symptoms varied, indicating differences in the individual sensitivity of the animals to adriamycin. Thus, cardiac output (CO) was decreased by greater than 40% in only 4 of the 7 animals in which it was measurable at 9 weeks. Elevated levels of atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) and plasma renin activity (PRA), as well as pulmonary congestion, hydrothorax, and ascites were also evident. The baroreflex response to sodium nitroprusside (NPS) was blunted. The response to the inotropic drug dobutamine was depressed by 50% as compared with the control animals. Right ventricular beta-adrenoceptor density was significantly reduced in these animals (22.9 +/- 3.1 as compared with 31.8 +/- 1.0 fmol/mg protein in control animals) owing to a selective downregulation of the beta 1-adrenoceptor population. The loss of beta-adrenoceptors was highly correlated with severity of heart failure symptoms: i.e., baroreflex dysfunction as indicated by the NPS slope (r = 0.91), decrease in CO during the previous weeks (r = 0.88), and plasma norepinephrine (NE) levels (r = 0.96). However, when all adriamycin-treated animals were compared collectively regardless of the severity of heart failure, with the controls, no difference in the beta-adrenoceptor density was detectable, a finding in agreement with previous observations in this model. Chronic treatment of rabbits with adriamycin thus causes low-output failure, reflecting some of the findings reported for the human disease; however, individual sensitivity to adriamycin varies considerably between rabbits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Chronic adriamycin treatment and its effect on the cardiac beta-adrenergic system in the rabbit. 138 76

Congestive heart failure is a syndrome common in the United States, especially in elderly patients. The most common etiology is coronary artery disease. A number of general factors contribute to the heart failure syndrome, including loss of muscle, decreased myocardial contractility, pressure or volume overload, or restricted filling. All of these factors may play a role in a given patient as, for example, with coronary artery disease. Although systolic dysfunction with a reduced ejection fraction is the most common heart failure syndrome, up to 40% of patients may have a relatively preserved ejection fraction with diastolic dysfunction. As the heart begins to fail, a number of compensatory mechanisms are activated. These include increased heart rate, the Frank-Starling mechanism, increased catecholamines, activation of the renin-angiotensin system, and release of atrial natriuretic peptides. Although these mechanisms are initially helpful to the cardiovascular system, they frequently overshoot, initiating a vicious cycle. For example, with a decrease in cardiac output, there is a reflex increase in systemic vascular resistance in order to maintain perfusion pressure. This increase in resistance, however, acts as a load on the left ventricle and further reduces cardiac output. The best evidence for the existence of this vicious cycle is the beneficial change in hemodynamics produced by vasodilator drugs and the ACE inhibitors. Thus, an understanding of pathophysiology allows for the selection of rational therapy. An unresolved problem in heart failure patients is how best to reduce the high incidence of sudden death, which is one of the major challenges for the future.
 ...
PMID:Pathophysiology of congestive heart failure. 139 15

The levels of several regulatory peptides were measured in peripheral plasma samples from individuals with chronic cardiac failure (CCF) and matched controls in both the resting state and during a short period of maximal exercise. Basal levels of noradrenaline (NA; 705 +/- 114 vs 195 +/- 54 ng.l-1; mean +/- SEM; P < 0.05), plasma renin activity (PRA; 12.9 +/- 2.9 vs 2.1 +/- 0.3 ng AI ml-1.h-1; P < 0.05) and aldosterone (ALDO; 325 +/- 49 vs 87 +/- 8 ng.l-1; P < 0.05) were all raised in the patients with CCF, and increased further with exercise. Basal circulating levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) were also significantly higher in the CCF group compared to controls (136 +/- 35 vs 27 +/- 5 ng.l-1; P < 0.01), but the response to exercise was attenuated, so that at peak exercise, no significant difference was observed. Basal circulating levels of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) (29 +/- 4 vs 40 +/- 4 ng.l-1; P < 0.05) and secretin (13 +/- 1 vs 32 +/- 4 ng.l-1; P < 0.05) were significantly lower in the CCF group when compared to controls and there was no significant change in the levels of either peptide with exercise. Levels of neurokinin A (NKA), neuropeptide Y (NPY) and neurotensin (NT) were somewhat higher in patients, but the differences were not significant, and there were no changes during exercise. There were also no significant differences in the levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), insulin or glucagon in either experimental group both before and during exercise. We have therefore identified different circulating levels of certain regulatory peptides in patients with CCF, but the significance of these remains unclear.
 ...
PMID:Regulatory peptides in the plasma of patients with chronic cardiac failure at rest and during exercise. 139 15


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>