Cough induced by ACE-inhibitors. A kinin related phenomenon?

Cough induced by ACE-inhibitors may be related to bronchial hyperreactivity and/or to an accumulation of kinins. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized study in asthmatic and hypertensive patients lung function and bronchial reactivity to histamine and bradykinin remained unaltered although in hypertensive patients with cough, reactivity to histamine tended to be more pronounced and bronchial hyperreactivity to be more frequent than in those without cough. The findings do not support a major role of kinins in ACE inhibitor-induced cough.