We have used an oligonucleotide microarray to identify genes that are affected 
by congestive heart failure and those influenced by treatment with DITPA and 
DITPA in combination with captopril using a rat postinfarction model. The most 
striking result when comparing heart failure to sham operation was that all of 
the mitochondrial and metabolic enzymes affected were down regulated. When 
comparing heart failure with DITPA treatment, most of the down regulated 
metabolic genes were returned toward normal. When comparing heart failure with 
heart failure animals treated with DITPA and captopril, metabolic enzymes were 
no longer significantly downregulated. DITPA treatment and the combination of 
DITPA and captopril show that the metabolic enzymes were no longer down 
regulated. This represents a substantial improvement in the energy- generating 
capacity of the heart. These results indicate that the actions of DITPA and the 
combination of DITPA and captopril in heart failure can be partially explained 
by differences in gene activation.