Inhibitors of Bradykinin-Inactivating Enzymes Decrease

Inhibitors of bradykinin (BK)-inactivating enzymes protect from myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury after short periods of reperfusion. However, protection after 2 to 3 h of reperfusion does not mean that myocardium remains viable for an ex-tended time. Therefore, we examined the effects of inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ramiprilat), EP24.11 (cFP-F-pAB), and EP24.15 (cFP-AAF-pAB) in a chronic model of myo-cardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. A left descending coronary artery was occluded for 30 min in anesthetized rabbits. Saline, ramiprilat, or endopeptidase inhibitors were given after 27 min of occlusion. The BK2 receptor antagonist HOE140 was admin-istered in certain experiments. After ischemia, the occlusion was released, and the animal allowed to recover for 3 or 7 days. Surgery was then repeated, and the heart removed for deter