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One of the most common side effects of treatment with angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is cough. For this reason, some patients refuse otherwise valuable ACE inhibitor therapy. A British team may have discovered the mechanism for this cough, and how to prevent it.
The lung contains large amounts of ACE, which is centrally involved in the metabolism of the inflammatory peptide bradykinin. Therefore, ACE inhibition would be expected to increase bradykinin levels in the lung. Bradykinin is known to sensitize somatosensory fibers, causing hyperalgesia. The British investigators reasoned that the same might be true of the sensory fibers in the lung that initiate the cough reflex.
Guinea pigs were treated with captopril for two weeks.…