Effect of L-Arg on plasma content of endothelin and expression of c-fos mRNA in the left ventricle of rats with renovascular hypertensive hypertrophy

AIM: To study the effect of L-Arg on plasma content of endothelin (ET) and the expression of proto-oncogene c-fos mRNA in the left ventricle of rats with renovascular hypertensive hypertrophy. METHODS: The level of c-fos mRNA were measured by in situ hybridization. The ET in plasma were measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: After eight weeks of treatment with L-Arg, the expression of c-fos decreased markedly ( P0.01 ). The ET content in plasma also decreased significantly by L-Arg( P0.01 ).CONCLUSION: Plasma ET content and the expression of c-fos in the left ventricle of rats with renovascular hypertensive hypertrophy could be decreased by L-Arg administration. [