Abstract
It is not clear how the blocking effect of angiotensin II receptors by olmesartan affects the functional recovery of pressure-overload hypertrophied heart. Hypertrophied heart was created by abdominal aortic banding above the celiac artery in Wistar rats at the age of eight weeks. Hypertrophied heart was excised and studied at 10 and 16 weeks after the operation (HT groups). For the last four weeks before the experiment, olmesartan (0.2 mg/kg per day) was administered subcutaneously by osmotic minipumps (Olm groups). Left ventricular function was measured by Langendorff perfusion. The levels of mRNA for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), ACE2 and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) in myocardium were analyzed by RT-PCR. Left ventricular systolic (+d
