Although the angiotensin receptor antagonist (ARB) shares the angiotensin-II-blocking activity with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I), pharmacological mechanisms of action of these agents differ. We evaluated the temporal profiles of action of ACE-I and ARB on urinary protein excretion and nitrate/ nitrate (NO x ) excretion in hypertensive (140 and/or 90 mmHg) patients with chronic renal disease (serum creatinineo265 (range, 44-265) lmol/l or creatinine clearance430 (range, 30-121) ml/min). Patients with mild (o1 g/day; range, 0.4-1.0) and moderate proteinuria (41 g/day; range, 1.1-6.9) were randomly assigned to ACE-I-and ARB-treated groups, and were treated with ACE-I (trandolapril or perindopril) or ARB(losartan or candesartan) for 48 weeks. In all groups, treatment with ACE-I or ARB decreased blood pressure to the same level, but had no effect on creatinine clearance. In patients with mild proteinuria, neither ACE-I nor ARB altered urinary protein excretion. In patients with moderate proteinuria, ACE-I caused 44 7 6% reduction in proteinuria (from 2.7 7 0.5 to 1.5 7 0.4 g/day, n ¼ 14) at 12 weeks, and this beneficial effect persisted throughout the protocol (48 weeks, 1.2 7 0.2 g/day). In contrast, ARB did not produce a significant decrease in proteinuria at 12 weeks (23 7 8%, n ¼ 13), but a 41 7 6% reduction in proteinuria was observed at 48 weeks. Similarly, although early (12 weeks) increases in urinary NO x excretion were observed with ACE-I (from 257 7 70 to 1111 7 160 lmol/day) and ARB (from 280 7 82 to 723 7 86 lmol/day), the ARB-induced increase in NO x excretion was smaller than that by ACE-I (Po0.05). In conclusion, although both ACE-I and ARB reduce blood pressure similarly, the effect of these agents on proteinuria differs in chronic renal disease with moderate proteinuria. Relatively early onset of the proteinuriareducing effect was observed with ACE-I, which paralleled the increase in urinary NO x excretion. Conversely, ARB decreased proteinuria and increased urinary NO x excretion gradually. These time course-dependent changes in proteinuria and urinary NO x may reflect the pharmacological property of ACE-I and ARB, with regard to the action on bradykinin.