It appears that the main benefit from ACE inhibitor drugs like Captopril and Lisinopril may be that they reduce MMP-2/9s.

The MMP-9s cut holes in the BBB and then enter the brain and cut myelin up into little pieces. The majority of MS damage is related to these activities in the inflammatory stage of MS.

jackD


J Pharmacol Sci. 2008 Dec;108(4):487-94. Epub 2008 Dec 5.

Captopril attenuates matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 in monocrotaline-induced right ventricular hypertrophy in rats.
Okada M, Kikuzuki R, Harada T, Hori Y, Yamawaki H, Hara Y.

Laboratory of Veterinary Pharmacology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Japan. mokada@vmas.kitasato-u.ac.jp

Little is known about the influence of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) in right ventricular remodeling. We investigated the effect of captopril, an ACE inhibitor, on MMP-2 and MMP-9 in monocrotaline-induced right ventricular hypertrophy. Six-week-old male Wistar rats were injected intraperitoneally with monocrotaline (60 mg/kg) or saline. The rats were administrated captopril (30 mg/kg per day) or a vehicle orally for 24 days from the day of monocrotaline injection. At day 25, echocardiography was performed and hearts were excised. Expressions and activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were measured by Western blotting and by gelatin zymography, respectively. In monocrotaline-injected rats, right ventricular weight/tail length ratio increased significantly. Histological analysis revealed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and fibrosis in right ventricular sections. Echocardiography showed right ventricular dysfunction compared with saline-injected rats. The right ventricular hypertrophy, fibrosis, and dysfunction were inhibited by captopril. However, captopril did not attenuate an increase in pulmonary artery pressure. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions and activities in right ventricles increased significantly in monocrotaline-injected rats and captopril inhibited them.

These findings indicate that captopril attenuates the development of monocrotaline-induced right ventricular hypertrophy in association with inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in rats.

PMID: 19057128 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]