Emerging concepts: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in coronary artery disease.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have played a highly beneficial role in the therapy of hypertension and congestive heart failure. Detailed analysis of some of the heart failure trials in patients with these diseases has uncovered unexpected benefits in the prevention of cardiovascular events. Paralleling these observations are the rapidly accruing basic studies describing important molecular and cellular effects of these agents. For example, ACE inhibition will prevent stimulation of smooth muscle cell angiotensin II receptors, thereby blocking both contractile and proliferative actions. In addition, ACE inhibition of kininase II inhibits the breakdown of bradykinin. Bradykinin is a direct stimulant of nitric oxide release from the intact endothelial cell. Thus, at the cellular level ACE inhibition shifts the balance of ongoing mechanisms in favor of those promoting vasodilatory, antiaggregatory, antithrombotic, and antiproliferative effects. These effects underlie the potential benefits of ACE inhibition in the therapy of coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis.