Effect of Verapamil and Captopril on Endothelial Injury in the Diabetic Hypertensive Rat

Microvascular and macrovascular complications are a major cause of increased morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Atherosclerosis is the major cause of these complications. Recently, Hebden and colleagues demonstrated endothelial injury in a rat model with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and deoxycorticosterone acetate-induced hypertension. To determine if captopril and verapamil reduce endothelial injury in this model of diabetic hyjrertensive (DH) rats, we evaluated mean medial thickness and intimal cell changes in four groups of rats: control, untreated DH rats, captopriltreated DH rats, and verapamil-treated DH rats