Omapatrilat: a new tool for understanding metabolism of bradykinin at the endothelium level.

As a kallikrein-kinin system has been evidenced at the endothelium level, bradykinin released locally could be responsible, at least in part, for the vasodilatory effect of omapatrilat. To objectivate this potential role of bradykinin, it is important to understand the respective role of angiotensin-converting enzyme and neutral endopeptidase in the metabolism of this vasodilatory peptide, and also to define the influence of different pathophysiologic factors on the respective role of these metallopeptidases in this metabolism.