Effect of Direct Renin Inhibitor on Left Ventricular Remodeling in Patients With Primary Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Some patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have a poor prognosis due to left ventricular remodeling (LVR), resulting in the recurrence of congestive heart failure even when therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers (ARBs) has been initiated. We investigated the effect of early administration of the direct renin inhibitor (DRI) aliskiren in combination with an ACEI or an ARB on LVR using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in patients with AMI.Twenty-one consecutive patients were treated with an ACEI or an ARB (non-DRI group), and another 21 consecutive patients received aliskiren 150 mg/day combined with an ACEI or an ARB (DRI group). CMR imaging was performed 7 days after AMI and 10 months later.CMR imaging revealed no significant changes in LV end-systolic volume, LV end-diastolic volume, or LV ejection fraction between the patients with and without DRI aliskiren. In the DRI group, plasma renin activity was significantly lower in both the acute and chronic phases; however, aldosterone levels were significantly lower in the acute but not the chronic phase.A low dose of aliskiren may be insufficient to maintain suppression of aldosterone under current standard therapies with an ACEI or an ARB and β-blocker in patients with primary AMI, and results in no attenuation of LVR.