Stimulation of cardiac apoptosis in essential hypertension: potential role of angiotensin II

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Angiotensin II.

In addition, immunostaining for the active form of caspase-3 was also performed to assess apoptosis.

Why It Was Studied

The researchers investigated whether cardiac apoptosis is stimulated in the heart of hypertensive patients and whether angiotensin II plays a role in such alteration.

The study was performed in 28 patients with essential hypertension and no evidence of either ischemic cardiomyopathy or heart failure.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 28 patients taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

After randomization, 14 patients were assigned to losartan and 14 patients to amlodipine treatment.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized study.

Because people in this Angiotensin II study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

A time span of 12 months appears in the methods.

At baseline and after 12 months, right septal endomyocardial biopsies were performed, and the number of apoptotic nuclei was assessed by DNA end-labeling (TUNEL).

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Amlodipine, Angiotensin II, Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists, Antihypertensive Agents, Apoptosis, Blood Pressure and Calcium Channel Blockers.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Angiotensin II in 28 patients over 12 months.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2002 (Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Angiotensin II compound page, all human trials.