Angiotensin II recognizes two receptor subtypes, AT1 and AT2, both of them having been recently cloned. Although AT2 receptors represent 5-10% of angiotensin II receptors in the kidneys of adult rats, their function remains unknown. In the present work, we examined the possible contribution of AT2 receptors to the regulation of pressure-natriuresis in anesthetized rats infused either with the s...

AIM Angiotensin II is well known for its contractile effects on smooth muscle cells. This effect is also present in the gut previously shown in animal models. The aim of this study was to clarify expression and localization of angiotensin II receptors in the human small intestine and to explore the pharmacological profile of angiotensin II effects in vitro. METHODS Strips of jejunal muscle wa...

Angiotensin II, the effector peptide of the renin-angiotensin system, regulates cellular growth in response to developmental, physiological, and pathological processes. The identification of renin-angiotensin system components and angiotensin II receptors in cardiac tissue suggests the existence of an autocrine/paracrine system that has effects independent of angiotensin II derived from the cir...

Angiotensin II, the effector peptide of the renin-angiotensin system, regulates cellular growth in response to developmental, physiological, and pathological processes. The identification of renin-angiotensin system components and angiotensin II receptors in cardiac tissue suggests the existence of an autocrine/paracrine system that has effects independent of angiotensin II derived from the cir...

Angiotensin II can inhibit glucagon-stimulated cyclic AMP production in hepatocytes and adenylate cyclase activity in hepatic membranes. Pertussis toxin, an exotoxin produced by Bordetella pertussis, was used to investigate the role of the inhibitory guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein of adenylate cyclase (Ni) in coupling angiotensin receptors to the adenylate cyclase system. An assa...

Background: Hypertension during pregnancy period along with the presence of protein in the urine, after the 20th weeks of gestation is called preeclampsia (PE). About five percent of all pregnancies are manifested with PE and its exact etiology has still remained unknown. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has an important role in the regulation of blood pressure during pregnancy and so pathoph...

1. The binding of angiotensin II to glomerular receptors was studied in spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats in response to 7, 16 and 32% isocaloric, isonatraemic protein diets. 2. Increased dietary protein elevated the systemic angiotensin II levels of both spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats [F0.05(2,26) = 4.758, P less than 0.05; n = 36], and this was no...

Essential hypertension is a common disease, yet its pathogenesis is not well understood. Altered control of sodium excretion in the kidney may be a key causative feature, but this has been difficult to test experimentally, and recent studies have challenged this hypothesis. Based on the critical role of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and the type I (AT1) angiotensin receptor in essential hy...

Previously we demonstrated that viral-mediated increased expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus significantly reduces blood pressure in normal rats made hypertensive by infusion of angiotensin II. However, the exact cellular locus of this interleukin-10 action within the paraventricular nucleus is unknown. In the presen...