The study findings may explain previous reports that ACE inhibitors can benefit individuals who have reduced blood flow to their hearts that can cause chest pain, or angina, says Isner. If they work out for this kind of application, they would be easy for patients to use and potentially would be among the simplest strategies one could devise for promoting new blood vessel formation. The growth of new blood vessels is called angiogenesis. In recent years, scientists have focused considerable attention on drugs and natural molecules in the body that promote or inhibit angiogenesis. Pro-angiogenesis treatments also could help people when leg blood vessels are obstructed by the fatty deposits of atherosclerosis.
Many people now lose their legs due to poor circulation caused by atherosclerosis.
In heart disease, the goal is to grow new blood vessels to the heart as a way to route blood around arteries choked by fatty deposits that prevent the heart from getting enough oxygen-rich blood. Heart attacks occur when the heart is deprived of blood. How it does that is not yet clear. Isner and his colleagues wanted to determine if ACE inhibitors have a protective effect on the thin layer of cells that lines blood vessels. These endothelial cells play a major role in new vessel growth.