Abstract
MK-0521 and captopril were orally administered to acute (6 to 8 days after unilateral renal artery constriction) and chronic (2 to 2.5 months after the constriction) 2-kidney Goldblatt hypertensive dogs for 7 to 21 days. MK-0521 lowered the blood pressure to similar extents in the acute and chronic stages of hypertension. The antihypertensive effect of MK-0521 was dose-dependent and persistent even after its cessation. Captopril also produced an antihypertensive effect, although the effect in the chronic stage of hypertension was less prominent than that in the acute stage of hypertension. MK-0521 was more inhibitory on the renin-angiotensin system than captopril. In the acute stage of hypertension, the dogs treated with MK-0521 had increased angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity, while they had decreased plasma angiotensin II level and elevated plasma angiotensin I level and plasma renin activity. These results clarified the inhibitory effect of MK-0521 on ACE. In contrast, in the chronic stage of hypertension, MK-0521 showed no depression of plasma angiotensin II. There were no significant changes in daily urinary volume, and renal clearances of sodium, potassium and creatinine. These results suggest that the major mechanism of the antihypertensive effect of MK-0521 in 2-kidney Goldblatt hypertensive dogs is an inhibition of the ACE. In addition, the different effects in the acute and chronic hypertensive dogs suggest that some differences exist in the mechanisms of maintaining blood pressure between the two stages of 2-kidney Goldblatt hypertensive dogs.
