Exercise training and losartan improve endothelial function in heart failure rats by different mechanisms.

OBJECTIVES To investigate the mechanisms of losartan- and exercise training-induced improvements on endothelial dysfunction in heart failure. DESIGN Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to left coronary artery ligation inducing myocardial infarction and heart failure were randomized to losartan treatment, high-intensity exercise training, or both. RESULTS Losartan, but not exercise training, reduced the heart failure-associated elevation in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (26 ± 2 mmHg vs. 19 ± 1 mmHg after losartan). In contrast, both exercise training and losartan improved exercise capacity, by 40% and 20%, respectively; no additional effects were observed when exercise training and losartan were combined. Aortic segments were mounted on a force transducer to determine vasorelaxation. Heart failure impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, observed as a 1.9-fold reduced response to acetylcholine (EC₅₀). Exercise and losartan improved acetylcholine-mediated vasorelaxation to the same extent, but by different mechanisms. Exercise training upregulated the nitric oxide pathway, whereas losartan upregulated a non-nitric oxide or -prostacyclin pathway; possibly involving the endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizing factor. CONCLUSIONS Both losartan and exercise training reversed endothelial dysfunction in heart failure; exercise training via nitric oxide-dependent vasorelaxation, and losartan via an unknown mechanism that may involve endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizing factor. Thus, the combined treatment activated an additional nitric oxide- independent mechanism that contributed to reduce endothelial dysfunction.