Blood pressure-independent inhibition by lacidipine of endothelin-1-related cardiac hypertrophy in salt-loaded, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.

We investigated the influence of salt loading on the renal and cardiac production of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in stroke-prone, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR-SP). The results show that the dietary salt intake did not change systolic blood pressure or the renal expression of the prepro-ET-1 mRNA but increased cardiac expression of the ET-1 gene transcript with concomitant ventricular hypertrophy. These changes were prevented by oral treatment with lacidipine, a long-lasting calcium antagonist, at a dose that did not reduce systolic blood pressure. This indicates that the cardioprotective properties of lacidipine may be dissociated from its blood pressure-lowering effect and could be related to inhibition of endothelin gene expression.