Abstract-The history of the discovery of the renin-angiotensin system began in 1898 with the studies made by Tigerstedt and Bergman, who reported the pressor effect of renal extracts; they named the renal substance renin based on its origin. In 1934, Harry Goldblatt induced experimental hypertension in dogs by clamping a renal artery. About 1936, simultaneously in the Medical School of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in the Eli-Lilly Laboratories in Indianapolis, 2 independent groups of researchers, using the Goldblatt technique to produce experimental hypertension, demonstrated renal secretion of a pressor agent similar to renin. In the following years, both teams described the presence of a new compound in the renal vein blood of ischemic kidneys. This agent was extracted from blood with 70% acetone and had a short pressor effect. The final conclusion was that renin acted enzymatically on a plasma protein to produce the new substance. He related hypertrophy to an increased resistance to blood flow in the small vessels due to the altered condition of the blood. In 1868, George Johnson, 2 reporting studies on nephritis, suggested that hyaline-fibroid alterations in the renal vessels were due to an impure condition of the blood, which was also responsible for left ventricular hypertrophy. F.A. Mahomed, 3 using a primitive sphygmograph for the first time, described high blood pressure in 1872. He also linked left ventricular hypertrophy to hypertension due to nephritis and reported the presence of high blood pressure in patients without renal disease. 4,5 Finally, Riva-Rocci, 6 in 1896, described the first indirect sphygmomanometer to measure arterial pressure in humans, and in 1905, Korotkoff 7 defined the sounds that are named after him.The relationship between pathological alterations in the kidney and the development of systemic arterial hypertension had been postulated for many years. In this sense, Franz Volhard 8 suggested the existence of a circulating vasopressor substance. He classified the hypertensive patients: those with slight vascular damage as reds, and those with important vascular lesions-mostly in the kidney, pale skin, and cerebral damage (malignant hypertension)-as white.On the other hand, by the end of the nineteenth century, Tigerstedt, a Finnish professor of physiology working at the Karolinska Institute, and his assistant Bergman 9 analyzed the effect of renal extracts on arterial pressure. They discovered the presence of a pressor compound in the renal tissue of the rabbit, and based on its origin, they named it renin. The pressor activity could be extracted with glycerin, did not dialyze, and was stable at 56°C and was destroyed by boiling. Moreover, they showed that the renal vein blood increased blood pressure when injected into nephrectomized animals. They also detected the potentiation and protraction of the pressor response to renin in the nephrectomized recipient. They explained that the association between renal disease and cardiac hypertrophy was due to the kidney ...

Experimental studies indicate that angiotensin II (ANG II) through its type 1 receptor (AT1) promotes cardiovascular hypertrophy and fibrosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze whether chronic long-term inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) can prevent most of the deleterious effects due to aging in the cardiovascular system of the normal rat. The main objective was to compare two strategies of ANG II blockade: a converting enzyme inhibitor (CEI) and an AT1 receptor blocker (AT1RB). A control group remained untreated; treatment was initiated 2 wk after weaning. A CEI, enalapril (10 mg ⅐ kg Ϫ1 ⅐ day Ϫ1 ), or an AT 1RB, losartan (30 mg ⅐ kg Ϫ1 ⅐ day Ϫ1 ), was used to inhibit the RAS. Systolic blood pressure, body weight, and water and food intake were recorded over the whole experimental period. Heart, aorta, and mesenteric artery weight as well as histological analysis of cardiovascular structure were performed at 6 and 18 mo. Twenty animals in each of the three experimental groups were allowed to die spontaneously. The results demonstrated a significant protective effect on the function and structure of the cardiovascular system in all treated animals. Changes observed at 18 mo of age in the hearts and aortas were quite significant, but each treatment completely abolished this deterioration. The similarity between the results detected with either enalapril or losartan treatment clearly indicates that most of the effects are exerted through AT 1 receptors. An outstanding finding was the significant and similar prolongation of life span in both groups of treated animals compared with untreated control animals. losartan; enalapril; heart; aorta; life span THE NATURAL PROCESS OF AGING is related to a progressive modification, and ultimately, a loss of organ function. These alterations are common to all species. In general, there is a correlation between the structural and functional changes associated with aging. In mammals, degenerative processes such as arteriosclerosis, the development of senile plaques in the brain, and the replacement of functional parenchyma by fibroconnective tissue in a variety of organs are considered manifestations of aging (19,41).Ultrastructurally, a reduction in the number of cellular organelles such as mitochondria is common in the aging process (13,21,36). Lifelong free radical production could play a main role in the reduction of the number and in both structural and functional mitochondria modifications (6,20,38). It has been widely postulated that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are causally involved in the aging process (19,20). In this sense, earlier data (4, 17) have confirmed that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in the aorta and nitric oxide (NO) production diminish with age, whereas chronic long-term administration of angiotensin II (ANG II) inhibitors maintains endothelial NOS activity in old animals. Moreover, the mitochondria from hearts of aged rats chronically treated with ANG II inhibitors were found to have increased NOS activity and decrease...

Renal vasodilation produced by two dissimilar vasodepressor polypeptides, bradykinin and eledoisin, was correlated with changes in renal venous concentrations of substances having the properties of prostaglandins of the E and F series in anesthetized dogs. Samples of renal venous blood were extracted for acidic lipids, and the prostaglandin E and prostaglandin F zones of the chromatographed extracts were eluted and assayed in vitro for prostaglandins of the E and F series by a parallel bioassay system (sensitivity 0.015 ng/ml blood). During the first 2 minutes of infusion, bradykinin increased the concentration of a prostaglandin E-like substance in renal venous blood from a mean control level of 0.16 ng/ml to 1.05 ng/ml ( P <0.01); this increase occurred simultaneously with the greatest increase in renal blood flow to 432 ml/min from a control value of 282 ml/min. After 12 minutes of bradykinin infusion, the concentration of the prostaglandin E-like substance had decreased to 0.30 ng/ml, and renal blood flow had fallen to 398 ml/min. In contrast, eledoisin infused in equidilator doses did not increase the concentration of the prostaglandin E-like substance. The concentration of prostaglandin F-like substances was not affected by either polypeptide. A transient increase in urine flow occurred during the first 2 minutes of bradykinin infusion only. These results suggest that a prostaglandin E-like substance participates in the renal vasodilator and the diuretic responses to bradykinin.

The effects of an inhibitor of prostaglandin (PG) synthetase, indomethacin, were studied on renal blood flow (RBF) and mean aortic blood pressure (MABP) and related to changes in concentrations of PGs in renal venous blood under widely different experimental conditions. Although levels of PGE-like material ("PGE") in renal venous blood of the chloralose-anesthetized-laparotomized dog were 8-fold greater than in conscious dogs, viz., 0.39 vs. 0.05 ng/ml of blood, respectively, RBF and MABP were similar for each group. Indomethacin in doses as high as 10 mg/kg, iv, affected neither RBF, MABP, nor PG levels either in the conscious dog or in the anesthetized dog. However, in the anesthetized-laparotomized dog, smaller doses of indomethacin (2 mg/kg, iv) decreased RBF by more than 40% and increased MABP by 15%. This was associated with a decline in concentration of renal venous PGs to those levels observed in conscious dogs. The principal renal PG varied according to the experimental conditions. The venous levels of "PGF" were greater than "PGE" in conscious dogs, whereas in acutely stressed dogs the renal venous concentrations of "PGE" were more than 2-fold those of "PGF". Plasma renin activity was highly correlated with "PGE" levels in renal venous blood, but not with "PGF" levels. Thus, in the acutely stressed dog, the renal circulation is supported by a major PG component, withdrawal of which results in a decline in RBF. In contrast, in the conscious dog at rest, renal PGs do not appear to contribute significantly to RBF. The significance of the small basal release of PGs into the renal venous effluent of the conscious dog, which is not affected by indomethacin, remains to be determined.

1. The effects of two vasodilator polypeptides, bradykinin and eledoisin, were studied in isolated blood-perfused canine kidneys before and after administration of indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis, Bradykinin, but not eledoisin, releases renal prostaglandins. 2. Before administration of indomethacin, bradykinin decreased urinary osmolality and increased free qater clearance, whereas eledoisin did not affect the excretion of solute-free water. After administration of indomethacin, the renal vasodilator action of bradykinin was reduced but the vasodilator action of eledoisin was unaffected. 3. Fractional excretion of sodium was not affected by bradykinin before but was increased after administration of indomethacin. Reduction in glomerular filtration rate contributed to changes in sodium excretion produced by bradykinin and eledoisin. 4. The release of prostaglandins from the kidney by bradykinin amplifies the renal vasodilator action of the kinin and possibly mediates its effect on excretion of solute-free water.