Our goal was to assess the cardiovascular and renal protection afforded by angiotensin II type 1-receptor blockade against NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME)-exacerbated hypertension in young spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), in comparison with the antihypertensive drug, hydralazine. Male SHR were assigned to four groups (n=8 per group): no treatment (controls); L-NAME-treated group...

BACKGROUND The highly reactive aldehyde acrolein is a very potent endogenous toxin with a long half-life. Acrolein is produced within cells after insult, and is a central player in slow and progressive "secondary injury" cascades. Indeed, acrolein-biomolecule complexes formed by cross-linking with proteins and DNA are associated with a number of pathologies, especially central nervous system (C...

BACKGROUND/AIMS It was the aim of this study to test the hypothesis that hypertension and/or inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthases alters uterine vascular remodeling during pregnancy. METHODS Using a model of hypertension (NO synthase inhibition with L-NAME) in nonpregnant and pregnant rats, comparisons were made with age-matched controls, as well as with animals receiving hydralazine alo...

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas are desmoplastic and hypoxic, both of which are associated with poor prognosis. Hypoxia-activated prodrugs (HAPs) are specifically activated in hypoxic environments to release cytotoxic or cytostatic effectors. TH-302 is a HAP that is currently being evaluated in a Phase III clinical trial in pancreatic cancer. Using animal models, we show that tumor hypoxia ca...

Angiotensin I converting enzyme inhibitors are typically classified as peripheral vasodilators. We studied the effect of captopril and a known vasodilator, hydralazine, on arterial pressure-urinary output relationships in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats to determine whether these drugs produced similar changes in this relationship. Tail-cuff pressure and 24-hour urine output and sodium ex...

The true incidence of the lupus syndrome induced by hydralazine was determined in a longitudinal study of 281 patients consecutively starting hydralazine for hypertension over a 51 month period. Data on the duration of treatment and the maximum dose achieved were examined using life table analysis. After three years' treatment with hydralazine the incidence of the lupus syndrome was 6.7% (95% c...

The aerobic exercise capacity of patients with chronic heart failure is frequently impaired because of inadequate O2 transport to working skeletal muscle. To determine whether hydralazine improves O2 transport to working muscle, we examined the effect of intravenous hydralazine on blood flow (measured by thermodilution) and metabolism in the leg during maximal upright bicycle exercise in 10 pat...

Acute blood pressure elevations are commonly treated in hospitalized patients. There are no guidelines for appropriate practice and no evidence that such treatment is useful. The authors performed a retrospective review of medical and pharmacy records to determine how often intravenous hydralazine and labetalol are ordered and administered. During a 1-year study period, a total of 29,545 hospit...