Effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ agonist on angiotensin converting enzyme 2 mRNA expression in monocyte-derived macrophages of essential hypertensive patients

Objective: To study the effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist on the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) mRNA expression in monocyte-derived macrophages of essential hypertensive patients. Methods: Totally 57 essential hypertensive patients were randomly divided into three groups; conventional treatment group (n = 18), telmisartan group (n = 19), and benazepril group (n = 20) ; 20 patients with normal blood pressure were also selected as the control group. Monocyte-derived macrophages were isolated from blood samples of patients in all four groups. The expression of ACE2 mRNA in monocyte-derived macrophages was detected by RT-PCR before treatment and 4 and 12 weeks after treatment. Results: Four and 12 weeks after treatment, the systolic pressure and diastolic pressure of telmisartan group and benazepri group were significantly lower than that of the conventional treatment group (all P < 0.01), and the systolic pressure and diastolic pressure of telmisartan group were significantly lower than that of the benazepri group (both P < 0.01). The expression of ACE2 mRNA in monocyte-derived macrophages were significantly lower in essential hypertensive patients than that in control group (P < 0.01). After having been treated for 4 weeks and 12 weeks, the expression of ACE2 mRNA in monocyte-derived macrophages of hypertensive patients in telmisartan and benazepril groups were significantly higher than that in conventional treatment group (all P < 0.01), and the expression of ACE2 mRNA in telmisartan group was significantly higher than that in benazepril group (both P < 0.01). Conclusion: PPARγ agonist could increase the ACE2 mRNA expression in monocyte-derived macrophages of essential hypertensive patients.