The Effect of Anti-Hypertensive Drugs on DNA Synthesis and Proliferation of Cultured Rat Glomerular Mesangial and Aoric Smooth Muscle Cells

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of anti-hypertensive drugs, nifedipine, furosemide, and captopril, on DNA synthesis and proliferation of cultured rat glomerular mesangical and aortic smooth muscle cells induced by fetal calf serum(20% in mesangial cells and 10% in smooth muscle cells). Glomerular mesangial and aortic smooth muscle cells from Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured and seeded in multi-well plates. After confluency and serum restriction(48 hours in mesangial cells and 72 hours in smooth muscle cells), the cells were exposed to fetal calf serum with or without anti-hypertensive drugs at increasing concentration between 10^(-8) -10^(-4)M. DNA synthesis was assessed by ³H-thymidine uptake and proliferation by cell numbers using hemocytometer. The results were as follows: 1) Nifedipine at the concentration of 10^(-5)M and 5×10^(-4)M inhibited serum-induced DNA synthesis significantly by 40.9% and 78.9% in mesangial cells(p