The present study was carried out to study the effect of spironolactone, atenolol, metoprolol, ramipril and perindopril on cardiovascular complications associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus in rats. Single tail vein injection of 45 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) produced type 1 diabetes in Wistar rats of either sex. Spironolactone (SL; 20mg/kg/day), atenolol (10mg/kg/day), metoprolol (10mg/kg/da...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of enzymes important for the resorption of extracellular matrices, control of vascular remodeling and repair. Increased activity of MMP2 has been demonstrated in heart failure, and in acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF) a decrease in circulating MMPs has been demonstrated along with successful treatment. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to ...

Angiotensin II plays an important role in vascular remodeling. We investigated the role of aldosterone, which is stimulated by angiotensin II, as a mediator of angiotensin II-induced vascular structural and functional alterations. Sprague-Dawley rats (n=8 to 12/group) received angiotensin II (120 ng/kg per minute, subcutaneously) for 14 days +/- spironolactone or hydralazine (25 mg/kg per day)....

In patients with chronic heart failure, spironolactone added to conventional treatment may lead to serious and, occasionally, fatal hyperkalaemia. In some cases this seems to happen because spironolactone causes diarrhoea. Four cases involving men with New York Heart Association functional class III heart failure are presented. As these cases revealed, close monitoring of blood chemistry is man...

OBJECTIVES This study was designed to investigate the appropriateness and complications of the use of spironolactone for heart failure (HF) in clinical practice. BACKGROUND Spironolactone was reported by one prospective randomized trial to decrease morbidity and mortality in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III and IV HF. With this report (Randomized Spironolactone Evalua...

1. The action of spironolactone, a well-known antagonist of mineralocorticoids, on aldosterone regulation was investigated in normal young men to see whether it also acted as an inhibitor of biosynthesis in the adrenal gland. 2. The action of spironolactone was studied under three different conditions: (a) during 3 days of treatment with spironolactone; (b) during 1 day of combined administrati...

BACKGROUND Fibrosis results in excessive buildup of extracellular matrix proteins along with abnormalities in structure and is partly derived by a process involving transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) called endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). We investigated whether the aldosterone receptor-blocker spironolactone could abrogate TGF-β-induced fibrosis in EndMT and the underlying mec...

Background—In congestive heart failure (CHF), extracellular matrix turnover is a major determinant of cardiac remodeling. It has been suggested that spironolactone may decrease cardiac fibrosis. We investigated the interactions between serum markers of cardiac fibrosis and the effect of spironolactone on outcome in patients with CHF. Methods and Results—A sample of 261 patients from the Randomi...

Liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension are accompanied by portal-systemic collaterals formation and lethal complications. Angiogenesis participates in the development of collaterals. Spironolactone is an aldosterone receptor antagonist used to control fluid overload in cirrhotic patients although recent studies suggest that it also inhibits angiogenesis. This study investigated the effect of s...

An Additional Benefit of Its Use in Hypertensive and Cardiac Patients: Recent Insights To the Editor: The recent article by Raheja et al provided for highly interesting reading. Interestingly, recent data suggest that spironolactone may have significant pain ameliorating effects that may prove to be an additional benefit of its use in hypertensive and cardiac patients. For instance, intrathecal...