Pharmacokinetic studies on pharmacologic response of captopril in rats

After administration of captopril, a decrease in mean arterial blood pressure was observed in low sodium rats which were used as animal models of hyper-renin-active pathema. In normal rats, however, this marked decrease in blood pressure was not observed, even with high dose levels. In spite of the fact that captopril does not lower the blood pressure in normal rats, it was demonstrated that converting-enzyme activity was inhibited by captopril. No differences were observed between low sodium rats and normal rats in characteristics of angiotensin-converting enzyme. It was concluded that disposition of captopril might be different in the respective rats.