Celiprolol inhibits mitogen-activated protein kinase and endothelin-1 and transforming growth factor-beta(1) gene in rats.

We evaluated the cardioprotective effects of long-term treatment with celiprolol (for 5 weeks), a specific beta(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist with a weak beta(2)-adrenoceptor agonist action, on endothelin-1 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta(1) expression and cardiovascular remodeling in deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats. Upregulated preproendothelin-1, endothelin ET(A) receptor, TGF-beta(1), c-fos, and type I collagen expression and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activities were suppressed by celiprolol. Celiprolol effectively inhibited vascular lesion formation such as medial thickness and perivascular fibrosis. These observations suggested that extracellular signal-regulated kinase and c-fos gene pathway may contribute to the cardiovascular remodeling of DOCA rats, and that cardioprotective effects of celiprolol on cardiovascular remodeling may be mediated, at least in part, by suppressed expression of endothelin-1 and TGF-beta(1).