| Abstract: | Objective To study the relationship between apoptosis and hypertrophy of the left ventricie (LV) before and after its regression with antihypertensive treatment. Methods Forty 12- week old spontaneously. hypertensive rats(SHR were randomly divided into 2 groups, one given enalapril (SHR - d grouP) and the other without treatment (SHR group). Twenty normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats of the same age served as controls (WKY group). The changes of body weight and blood pressure were observed for 3 months. The rats were killed at the 24th week of age. The weight of LV, the body weight (B W), and the ratio of LV/BW were compared between the groups. Then by in situ specific labelling of nuclear DNA fragmentation, the apoptosis in the wall of the left ventricle was compared between them. RcsuIts The index of apoptosis was SHR - d>SHR> WKY The dofference was significant. ConcIusion The hypertrophy of the LV and its regression is very'likely related with the imbalance between the proloferation and death of cells of the muscle in the LV. |
