Methimazole treatment reduces cardiac hypertrophy and mortality without a concomitant reduction in blood pressure in established Goldblatt two-kidney one clip hypertension.

The effects of methimazole, an antithyroid drug, on blood pressure and other parameters were evaluated in the established phase of Goldblatt two-kidney one clip (G2K-1C) hypertension. Methimazole was administered via drinking water for five weeks, starting five weeks after hypertension had been induced. After this period of treatment, similarly high blood pressures were observed in methimazole-treated and non-treated G2K-1 C rats, despite the fact that a hypothyroid state had been achieved in methimazole-treated rats. Methimazole-treated G2K-1 C rats showed reductions in heart rate, ventricular weight, ventricular/body weight ratio and mortality in comparison with rats not treated with methimazole. These results clearly demonstrate that hypothyroidism induced by methimazole: a) does not reverse G2K-1 C hypertension, but b) improves the rate of survival and c) reduces relative cardiac hypertrophy, possibly by the reduction in cardiac work observed in Goldblatt hypothyroid rats.