Effects of carvedilol, cilazapril and their combination on left ventricular remodeling after acute myocardial infarction in rats

AIM:To compare the effects of carvedilol, cilazapril and their combination on left ventricular remodeling (LVRM) after acute myocardial infarction(AMI) in rats. METHODS: Twenty-four hours after AMI operation, 100 surviving rats were randomly assigned to: ①AMI control ( n= 25), ②AMI+carvedilol (1 mg·kg -1 ·d -1 , n= 25) (C1), ③AMI+cilazapril (1 mg·kg -1 ·d -1 , n= 25) (Z1), and ④ AMI+combination( n= 25) groups. Sham-operated group ( n= 17) were selected randomly. After 4 weeks of therapy with the drugs gastric gavage, hemodynamic and pathological studies were performed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in MI size among the four AMI groups (all P 0 05) Left ventricular (LV) end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), volume (LVV), weight (LVW) and septal thickness (STh) were all higher and left ventricular pressure maximal rate of rise and fall (±d p /d t ) were lower (all P 0 01) in AMI group than sham-operated group. The LVEDP, LVV, LVW and STh were all lower and ±d p /d t were higher in Z1, C1, and combination groups than those in AMI group ( P 0 05, P 0 01), with LVEDP and STh were more lower in the combination group than in the two monotherapy group ( P 0 05, P 0 01), but there were no significant differences in other variables among the three therapy groups. CONCLUSION: Carvedilol, cilazapril and their combination all can prevent from LVRM after AMI in rats, improve hemodynamics and LV function, with the combination superior.