Science / Medicine : Drug Shows Promise in Angioplasties

Cardiologists are now widely using a process called balloon angioplasty, in which a balloon is inflated inside a blood vessel to compress a blockage and reopen the vessel. But that procedure frequently stimulates smooth muscle cells on the interior of the vessel wall to proliferate excessively, eventually closing the vessel once again. Now researchers believe that they have a promising way to prevent such proliferation. Scientists at Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. of Basel, Switzerland, reported last week in the journal Science that proliferation after balloon angioplasty in rats could be blocked by administering a drug called cilazapril. Cilazapril blocks the activity of a substance called angiotensin-converting enzyme, which researchers had previously suspected of being involved in the unwanted cellular proliferation. Hoffmann-La Roche hopes to begin studies of the drug in humans by the end of the year.