EurekAlert -- University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and — in a remarkable finding — prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension. The findings, which appear in May 1st edition of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, could lead to a new class of antihypertensive drugs designed to address two major problems associated with cardiovascular disease: high blood pressure and the tissue damage associated with it, known as fibrosis.
