ACE inhibition with moexipril: A review of potential effects beyond blood pressure control

ACE inhibitors induce metabolic changes and exert cardioprotective and vasoprotective properties, some of which cannot be attributed to their antihypertensive effect per se. Moexipril is an ACE inhibitor with a lipophilicity in the same range as quinapril, benazepril or ramipril, and so can readily penetrate lipid membranes and thus target tissue ACE in addition to plasma ACE. Evidence from animal studies shows similar and significant (p < 0.05) reductions in tissue ACE activity for moexipril and quinapril. Moexipril may improve endothelial dysfunction; moexiprilat and ramiprilat have demonstrated greater activity than captopril, enalaprilat and quinaprilat in isolated endothelium-denuded segments of the rabbit jugular vein where bradykinin elicits a constrictor response, mediated by activation of the bradykinin B₂ receptor. ACE inhibitors, including moexipril, may exert neuroprotective effects. Moexipril promoted neuronal survival in vitro and it is thought that this neuroprotective effect is due to free radical scavenging properties of the drug. ACE inhibitors can also decrease progression of renal insufficiency in patients with various underlying renal diseases. Moexipril may also have a renoprotective effect as it increased the ultrafiltration coefficient and normalized urinary protein excretion in rat models. Preclinical studies indicate that the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system may play a role in the regulation of bone resorption and moexipril had no adverse effects on bone metabolism in animal models and the drug did not hamper the osteoprotective effects of estrogen. Reduction in left ventricular mass with moexipril in patients with hypertension was similar in magnitude to the effect of other ACE inhibitors. When investigated in hypertensive patients with an elevated cardiovascular risk, moexipril increased arterial distensibility and demonstrated antioxidative properties in addition to efficiently controlling blood pressure. Moexipril does not adversely affect serum levels of uric acid, lipids, blood glucose levels and plasma insulin levels and can be co-administered with hormone replacement therapy. Moreover, quality-of-life data suggest favorable effects of moexipril treatment in a patient population at high cardiovascular risk.