Involvement of Prostaglandins in the Action of Captopril in Type II Diabetic Patients

Summary

Twelve well controlled, type II diabetic patients without hypertension and advanced diabetic complications and 12 age-matched healthy control subjects were treated for 4 days with captopril 25 mg three times daily. The pretreatment values of plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone, urinary 6-keto prostaglandin F_1α and thromboxane B2 were similar in both groups. Urinary prostaglandin E2 was significantly reduced in diabetics. After captopril plasma renin activity increased significantly in the diabetics and control subjects. Plasma aldosterone was not significantly decreased in both groups. Urinary prostaglandin E2 increased significantly in both diabetic and control groups. Other measured prostaglandins remained unchanged. After captopril systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in diabetics and not significantly in the control group. The results indicate that captopril was an effective drug for lowering blood pressure in diabetic patients, too. It is possible that the antihypertensive effect of captopril in diabetics could be due at least partly to prostaglandin E₂.

Key words

Diabetes mellitus - Captopril - Prostaglandins - Plasma renin activity - Aldosterone