LETTER
Inhibition of Renal Fibrosis and Glomerular Injury by Sacubitril/Valsartan, a Combination Angiotensin Receptor Blocker and Neprilysin Inhibitor, in a Salt-Sensitive Hypertensive Model Using Angiotensin 1 Receptor Knockout Mice: The Contribution of Non-Angiotensin Blocking Effects to Renal Protection
Rei Otsu1, Yoshiaki Taniyama1, 2, *, Fumihiro Sanada1, Jun Muratsu1, 2, Kana Shibata1, Tatsuya Fujikawa1, Kanako May Brule1, Hideo Shimizu1, Hiromi Rakugi2, Ryuichi Morishita1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2018Volume: 5
First Page: 108
Last Page: 118
Publisher ID: MEDJ-5-108
DOI: 10.2174/1874220301805010108
Article History:
Received Date: 19/10/2018Revision Received Date: 17/11/2018
Acceptance Date: 20/11/2018
Electronic publication date: 28/12/2018
Collection year: 2018
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction:
“Aldosterone breakthrough,” which is observed in patients receiving long term treatment with angiotensin blockade, is strongly associated with the increased risk of a declining glomerular filtration rate through the profibrotic actions of aldosterone. Sacubitril/valsartan is a newly created combination medicine (the angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan and the neprilysin-inhibitor sacubitril). Therefore, sacubitril/valsartan should have additional organ-protective actions besides the angiotensin blockade.
Methods:
In this study, we examined the renal protective effect of sacubitril/valsartan in a salt-sensitive hypertension model using angiotensin II type 1a receptor (AT1aR) knockout mice. An oral administration of 1% NaCl solution with sacubitril/valsartan (30 or 60 mg/kg/day) or valsartan (15 or 30 mg/kg/day) alone beginning 7 days before administration of aldosterone was examined in an aldosterone infusion AT1R knockout mouse model as an aldosterone breakthrough model.
Results / Conclusion:
A significant decrease in Blood Pressure (BP) was observed in the sacubitril/valsartan group compared to the valsartan group under low and high doses. In addition, the pathological analysis of the kidney for glomerular fibrosis by Sirius red staining and for injury by PAS staining demonstrated significant reductions accompanied by a significant reduction in TGF-β in the sacubitril/valsartan group compared to the valsartan group. Overall, sacubitril/valsartan, which has the dual actions of the AT1R blockade and neprilysin inhibition, may have additional clinical values for the treatment of hypertensive patients with aldosterone breakthrough.
