ACE inhibition attenuates radiation-induced cardiopulmonary damage

Sonja J. Van Der Veen, Ghazaleh Ghobadi, Rudolf A. De Boer, Hette Faber, Megan V. Cannon, Peter W. Nagle, Sytze Brandenburg, Johannes A. Langendijk, Peter Van Luijk, Robert P. Coppes*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

110 Citations (Scopus)
22 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background and purpose:

In thoracic irradiation, the maximum radiation dose is restricted by the risk of radiation-induced cardiopulmonary damage and dysfunction limiting tumor control. We showed that radiation-induced sub-clinical cardiac damage and lung damage in rats mutually interact and that combined irradiation intensifies cardiopulmonary toxicity. Unfortunately, current clinical practice does not include preventative measures to attenuate radiation-induced lung or cardiac toxicity. Here, we investigate the effects of the ACE inhibitor captopril on radiation-induced cardiopulmonary damage. 

Material and methods: 

After local irradiation of rat heart and/or lungs captopril was administered orally. Cardiopulmonary performance was assessed using biweekly breathing rate measurements. At 8 weeks post-irradiation, cardiac hemodynamics were measured, CT scans and histopathology were analyzed. Results Captopril significantly improved breathing rate and cardiopulmonary density/structure, but only when the heart was included in the radiation field. Consistently, captopril reduced radiation-induced pleural and pericardial effusion and cardiac fibrosis, resulting in an improved left ventricular end-diastolic pressure only in the heart-irradiated groups. 

Conclusion: 

Captopril improves cardiopulmonary morphology and function by reducing acute cardiac damage, a risk factor in the development of radiation-induced cardiopulmonary toxicity. ACE inhibition should be evaluated as a strategy to reduce cardiopulmonary complications induced by radiotherapy to the thoracic area.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)96-103
Number of pages8
JournalRadiotherapy and Oncology
Volume114
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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