Berecek et al reported in the 1990s that when spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) mating pairs were treated with captopril and the resulting pups were continued on the drug for 2 months followed by drug discontinuation, the pups did not develop full blown hypertension, and the cardiovascular structural changes associated with hypertension in SHR were mitigated. The offspring of the pups also displayed diminished hypertension and structural changes, suggesting that the drug therapy produced a heritable amelioration of the SHR phenotype. This observation is reviewed. The link between cellular renin angiotensin systems and epigenetic histone modification is explored, and a mechanism responsible for the observation is proposed. In any case, the observations of Berecek are sufficiently intriguing and biologically important to merit re-exploration and definitive explanation. Equally important is determining the role of renin angiotensin systems in epigenetic modification.

Berecek等人在1990年代报道，当自发性高血压大鼠（SHR）交配对用卡托普利治疗，并且所产生的幼崽在药物上持续2个月，随后停药，这些幼崽没有发展成完全性高血压，并且心血管疾病与SHR高血压相关的结构变化得到缓解。幼犬的后代还表现出高血压和结构改变的减轻，这表明药物治疗可遗传性改善SHR表型。对此观察进行了回顾。探索了细胞肾素血管紧张素系统与表观遗传组蛋白修饰之间的联系，并提出了负责观察的机制。任何状况之下，Berecek的观察结果十分有趣，并且在生物学上具有重要意义，值得进行进一步的探索和明确的解释。同样重要的是确定肾素血管紧张素系统在表观遗传修饰中的作用。