Dexamethasone and prednisone in physiologic range increased angiotensin converting enzyme 7- to 16-fold in comparison to control in 3 days at maximal stimulation (4 nM steroid) in rabbit alveolar macrophages in culture. The increase was inhibited by actinomycin D (0.1 microng/ml) and 1 micronM cycloheximide, suggesting that de novo transcription and enzyme synthesis are responsible for the incr...

Lisinopril (N alpha-[(S)-1-carboxy-3-phenylpropyl]L-lysyl-L-proline), a potent angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, is an exceptionally selective affinity chromatography ligand for this enzyme. Affinity chromatography furnishes electrophoretically homogeneous enzyme directly from crude homogenates of rabbit lung tissue, a 1,000-fold purification; also, it affords a 100,000-fold enrichment o...

Angioedema associated with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors is a rare adverse reaction. It commonly involves the face, oropharyngeal and laryngeal tissues. To our knowledge, angioedema of the abdominal viscera related to angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors has not been reported previously. We present a rare case of a patient who had episodes angioedema and abdominal pain with ascit...

BACKGROUND Plasma aldosterone levels are elevated in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. Elevated aldosterone levels may reflect incomplete inhibition of the vascular converting enzyme during long-term ACE inhibition. We simultaneously measured plasma aldosterone levels and the degree of inhibition of the vascular converting enzyme in...

I read with interest the recent review article by de Albuquerque et al1 published in the Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia entitled “Angiotensin-converting enzyme genetic polymorphism: its impact on cardiac remodeling.” They showed that the DD genotype of Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism was independently associated with worse echocardiographic outcome, while the DI genot...

The demonstration of all components of the renin-angiotensin system in vascular tissue has raised questions as to the precise location of the local angiotensin II generation within the vascular wall. We investigated the metabolism of angiotensin I to angiotensin II in the vascular wall in the isolated rabbit thoracic aorta. Angiotensin I (3 x 10(-9) M) applied into the aortic lumen was partiall...