The role and regulation of cardiac angiotensin-converting enzyme for noninvasive molecular imaging in heart failure.

Congestive heart failure is a pathologic condition characterized by progressive decrease in left ventricular contractility and consequent decline of cardiac output. There is convincing clinical and experimental evidence that the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and its primary effector peptide, angiotensin II, are linked to the pathophysiology of interstitial fibrosis, cardiac remodeling, and heart failure. In addition to the traditional endocrine or circulating RAS, an active tissue RAS has been characterized. Tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme and locally synthesized angiotensin II, for example, by chymase, exert local trophic effects that modulate gene expression, which regulates growth and proliferation in both myocytes and nonmyocytes. The existence of the tissue RAS offers an opportunity for targeted imaging, which may be of considerable value for guiding medical therapy.