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...

Angiotensin II has a key role in the control of resistance artery tone and local blood flow. Angiotensin II possesses 2 main receptors. Although angiotensin II type 1 receptor is well known and is involved in the vasoconstrictor and growth properties of angiotensin II, the role of the angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) remains much less understood. Although AT2R stimulation induces vasodilat...

BACKGROUND In this study, the neuroprotective effect of a novel nonpeptide AT2R agonist, C21, was examined in a conscious model of stroke to verify a class effect of AT2R agonists as neuroprotective agents. METHODS AND RESULTS Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were pre-treated for 5 days prior to stroke with C21 alone or in combination with the AT2R antagonist PD123319. In a separate seri...

Background. Besides its involvement in the cardiovascular system, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAS) system has also been suggested to play an important role in inflammation. To explore the role of this system in cartilage damage in arthritis, we investigated the expression of angiotensin II receptors in chondrocytes. Methods. Articular cartilage was obtained from patients with osteoarthri...

TH-induced cardiac hypertrophy in vivo is accompanied by increased cardiac Transforming Growth Factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) levels, which is mediated by Angiotensin II type 1 receptors (AT1R) and type 2 receptors (AT2R). However, the possible involvement of this factor in TH-induced cardiac hypertrophy is unknown. In this study we evaluated whether TH is able to modulate TGF-beta1 in isolated cardi...

Pulakat L, DeMarco VG, Ardhanari S, Chockalingam A, Gul R, WhaleyConnell A, Sowers JR. Adaptive mechanisms to compensate for overnutrition-induced cardiovascular abnormalities. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 301: R885–R895, 2011. First published August 3, 2011; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00316.2011.—In conditions of overnutrition, cardiac cells must cope with a multitude of extracellular signa...

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary malignant brain tumor with poor clinical outcomes. Standard of care consists surgical debulking followed by radiation and temozolomide, but the invariably recurs, median survival only ~18 months. Repurposing drugs used for treatment other diseases promising avenue to identify novel treatments this highly aggressive form cancer. One such class compounds a...

Activation of the angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) by administration of Compound 21 (C21), a selective AT2R agonist, induces neuroprotection in models of ischemic stroke in young adult animals. The mechanisms of this neuroprotective action are varied, and may include direct and indirect effects of AT2R activation. Our objectives were to assess the long-term protective effects of post-strok...

Abnormal regulation of the renin angiotensin system such as enhanced renal AT1R function and reduced ACE2 activity contributes to obesity-related hypertension. Here, we tested whether long-term AT2R activation affects renal function in obesity using lean and obese Zucker rats treated with the AT2R agonist CGP42112A for 2 weeks. This caused blood pressure to decrease by 13 mm Hg, which was assoc...

Amyloid-β peptide deposition, abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau, as well as inflammation and vascular damage, are associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Angiotensin II (Ang II) is a peripheral hormone, as well as a neuropeptide, which binds two major receptors, namely the Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and the type 2 receptor (AT2R). Activation of the AT2R counteracts mo...