Blood Pressure Drug Grows New Blood Vessels

	June 15, 1999 - Quinaprilat (Acupril),
a drug for high blood pressure and heart failure,
promotes formation of new blood vessels in areas
where the blood supply has been cut off in rabbits,
report USA researchers.
	The study has potentially important 
implications for people, they write in Tuesday's
issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart
Association. The findings may lead to new treatments
for patients with blocked heart arteries or patients
with impaired blood supply to their legs. In these
patients, encouraging the growth of new blood
vessels may overcome existing arterial disease.
	Quinaprilat, an ACE inhibitor marketed under
the name Acupril, was given to rabbits to see if it
could increase blood supply in a leg where blood
flow had been surgically restricted in rabbits.
	The researchers compared 4 treatments:
1) quinaprilat
2) captopril (another ACE inhibitor)
3) VEGF - a growth factor known to cause new blood
vessel formation
4) no treatment
	They found that rabbits given quinaprilat had
more new blood vessels in the affected leg than those
given captopril or no treatment, and similar vessel
growth to animals given the growth factor. "The study
shows an unexpected benefit of a drug that is already
available and is already proven safe," said a 
statement issued by the American Heart Association.
	"One reason for the interest is that ACE
inhibitors can be taken orally," researcher Isner
added. "If they work out for this, they would be easy
for patients to use and might be the simplest way to
promote new blood vessel growth."
	The authors also suggest that a combination of
VEGF plus quinaprilat might give an even better 
response but they note that formation of new blood
vessels is essential to the growth of tumors. "There is
not any evidence that ACE inhibitors promote tumor
growth," Isner said. "On the other hand, it hasn't been
tested enough, and that will deserve serious
investigation."

Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association
1999;99