Angiotensin II and Sodium as Determinants of the Agonistic-Antagonistic Balance of Saralasin's Actions

1981 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Fagard ◽  
A. Amery ◽  
P. Lijnen

1. To study which factors determine the balance between the antagonistic and agonistic effects of the angiotensin II analogue [Sar1,Ala8]angiotensin II (saralasin) in man, saralasin was infused in subjects on a ‘normal’ sodium intake (group 1) and during sodium restriction with appropriately elevated plasma angiotensin II levels (group 2), and in sodium-restricted subjects in whom plasma angiotensin II was suppressed by converting-enzyme inhibition with captopril (group 3). 2. The saralasin-induced increase of plasma aldosterone concentration in group 1 was different (P<0.005) from the decrease in group 2, whereas saralasin produced a significant increase of plasma aldosterone in group 3. For the three groups combined the changes of plasma aldosterone were significantly related to control angiotensin II levels, but not to the 24 h urinary sodium excretion. The data suggest that it is the rise of angiotensin II in response to the sodium restriction and not the sodium restriction per se that is associated with the antagonistic action of saralasin on the adrenal receptors. 3. On average mean intra-arterial pressure at 30 min was not affected by saralasin in group 1, had decreased in group 2 and increased (P<0.001) by 4.4 mmHg in group 3. Overall the changes of arterial pressure were significantly related to control angiotensin II, but not to the 24 h sodium excretion, suggesting that the angiotensin II levels predominantly determine the agonistic-antagonistic balance of saralasin's actions on arterial pressure. 4. Although saralasin did not affect plasma renin activity in group 1, plasma renin rose in group 2 and was reduced by 40% (P<0.001) in group 3. For the three groups together the changes of plasma renin activity were significantly related to the changes of mean arterial pressure both on single and multiple regression analyses. The changes of pressure ‘explain’, however, only a fraction of the changes of plasma renin; it is suggested that saralasin has an agonistic effect on the renal receptors involved in the direct suppression of renin by angiotensin II in low-sodium, low-angiotensin conditions and that an antagonistic effect may contribute to the saralasin-induced rise of renin during sodium restriction with appropriate angiotensin II levels.

1980 ◽  
Vol 59 (s6) ◽  
pp. 75s-78s ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Fagard ◽  
A. Amery ◽  
P. Lijnen

1. To study which factors determine the balance between the antagonistic and agonistic effects of the angiotensin II analogue [Sar1,Ala8]-angiotensin II (saralasin) in man, saralasin was infused in subjects on a ‘normal’ sodium intake (group 1) during sodium restriction with appropriately elevated plasma angiotensin II levels (group 2) and in sodium-restricted subjects in whom plasma angiotensin II was suppressed by converting enzyme inhibition with captopril (group 3). 2. The action of saralasin was agonistic in group 3, antagonistic in group 2 and variable in group 1. 3. For groups 1 and 2 together the saralasin-induced changes of arterial pressure, of plasma aldosterone and of plasma renin were significantly related to control plasma angiotensin II but also to the 24 h urinary sodium excretion. When group 3 was included the changes remained significantly related to plasma angiotensin II but not to the urinary sodium excretion. 4. The results indicate that angiotensin II and not sodium status determines the agonistic/antagonistic balance of saralasin's actions.


1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (5) ◽  
pp. R1137-R1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Simmons ◽  
R. H. Freeman

L-Arginine analogues, e.g., NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), increase arterial pressure and suppress renin release in the rat. On the basis of these observations, it was hypothesized that L-arginine analogues also would attenuate aldosterone secretion. This hypothesis was tested in anesthetized rats treated with L-NAME or NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, 185 mumol/kg ip). The aldosterone secretion rate, plasma renin activity, and adrenal blood flow were attenuated in rats treated with L-NAME and L-NNA compared with control animals. Similar experiments were performed in anephric rats to examine the effects of L-NAME on aldosterone secretion independent of the circulating reninangiotensin system. The administration of L-NAME reduced adrenal blood flow but failed to reduce aldosterone secretion in these anephric rats. Bilateral nephrectomy reduced plasma renin activity essentially to undetectable levels in these animals. In a third series of experiments, two groups of anephric rats were infused with angiotensin II (3 micrograms/kg body wt iv) to provide a stimulus for aldosterone secretion. Aldosterone secretion and adrenal blood flow were markedly reduced in angiotensin II-infused rats pretreated with L-NAME compared with the control anephric animals infused with angiotensin II. Overall these results suggest that L-arginine analogues attenuate aldosterone secretion by inhibiting the adrenal steroidogenic effects of endogenous or exogenous angiotensin II and/or by reducing plasma levels of renin/angiotensin.


Hypertension ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 488-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeng Guo ◽  
Marko Poglitsch ◽  
Diane Cowley ◽  
Oliver Domenig ◽  
Brett C. McWhinney ◽  
...  

The aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) is currently considered the most reliable approach for case detection of primary aldosteronism (PA). ACE (Angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors are known to raise renin and lower aldosterone levels, thereby causing false-negative ARR results. Because ACE inhibitors lower angiotensin II levels, we hypothesized that the aldosterone/equilibrium angiotensin II (eqAngII) ratio (AA2R) would remain elevated in PA. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis involving 60 patients with PA and 40 patients without PA revealed that the AA2R was not inferior to the ARR in screening for PA. When using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to measure plasma aldosterone concentration, the predicted optimal AA2R cutoff for PA screening was 8.3 (pmol/L)/(pmol/L). We then compared the diagnostic performance of the AA2R with the ARR among 25 patients with PA administered ramipril (5 mg/day) for 2 weeks. Compared with basally, plasma levels of equilibrium angiotensin I (eqAngI) and direct renin concentration increased significantly ( P <0.01 or P <0.05) after ramipril treatment, whereas eqAngII and ACE activity (eqAngII/eqAngI) decreased significantly ( P <0.01). The changes of plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone concentration in the current study were not significant. On day 14, 4 patients displayed false-negative results using ARR_direct renin concentration (plasma aldosterone concentration/direct renin concentration), 3 of whom also showed false-negative ARR_plasma renin activity (plasma aldosterone concentration/plasma renin activity). On day 15, 2 patients still demonstrated false-negative ARR_plasma renin activity, one of whom also showed a false-negative ARR_direct renin concentration. No false-negative AA2R results were observed on either day 14 or 15. In conclusion, compared with ARR which can be affected by ACE inhibitors causing false-negative screening results, the AA2R seems to be superior in detecting PA among subjects receiving ACE inhibitors.


1992 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bouhnik ◽  
J. P. Richoux ◽  
H. Huang ◽  
F. Savoie ◽  
T. Baussant ◽  
...  

1. The renin-angiotensin and kinin-kallikrein systems of Dahl salt-sensitive and salt-resistant rats fed diets with different salt contents were analysed using biochemical and immunocytochemical techniques. 2. Blood pressure increased by 45% in salt-sensitive rats only, after 4 weeks on a high-salt diet. The plasma renin activity and plasma angiotensin II concentration remained at the same levels in salt-sensitive rats on the high-salt diet as on the normal salt diet, whereas the plasma renin activity and plasma angiotensin II concentration of salt-resistant rats fed the high-salt diet were lower. The plasma renin activity and the plasma angiotensin II concentration were elevated in both salt-resistant and salt-sensitive rats fed the salt-deficient diet but were much more elevated in salt-resistant than in salt-sensitive rats. 3. The kidney immunocytochemical data paralleled the data on plasma parameters. Salt-sensitive rats had fewer renin positive juxtaglomerular apparatuses than salt-resistant rats on the normal diet, and the increase on the sodium-deficient diet was also smaller in salt-sensitive rats. Salt-sensitive rats fed the high-salt diet and the standard diet had almost no angiotensin II immunoreactivity compared with the salt-resistant rats on the same diets. 4. The total renal kallikrein content of salt-sensitive rats was lower than that of salt-resistant rats on all three diets, as was the amount of kallikrein excreted in the urine on the standard and the high-salt diets. The differences resulted from a reduction in active kallikrein. The increase in kallikrein in salt-sensitive and salt-resistant rats on the salt-deficient diet was not significantly different. 5. There were similar changes in immunopositive kallikrein in the kidneys of salt-sensitive and salt-resistant rats with diet, with a large increase in kallikrein biosynthesis on the low-salt diet. The plasma concentration of high-molecular-mass kininogen was not significantly different in salt-sensitive and salt-resistant rats, but there was a significant increase in T-kininogen in salt-sensitive rats fed the high-salt diet. 6. In conclusion, the absence of decreases in the plasma renin activity and the plasma angiotensin II concentration in salt-sensitive rats fed the high-salt diet might partially explain the increase in blood pressure.


Author(s):  
J. E. Roulston ◽  
G. A. Macgregor ◽  
Theresa Adam ◽  
Nirmala D. Markandu

Measurement of plasma renin activity is widely used as an indirect assessment of plasma angiotensin II concentration. There has been some controversy over the validity of this assay as an estimate of circulating angiotensin II levels because, during the in vitro generation of angiotensin I by renin, over a period of time, substrate concentration may diminish to such an extent that it becomes rate-limiting, giving an artificially low reflection of angiotensin II levels. In this paper the initial angiotensin I concentration, that is the concentration before in vitro angiotensin I generation, has been compared with the corresponding plasma renin activity for 2752 individual plasma samples. A linear relationship was found between the initial angiotensin I concentration and the plasma renin activity below 60 ng ml−1 h−1. This indicates that, under the conditions of this assay, substrate does not appear to become rate-limiting except at exceedingly high levels of plasma renin activity. These results appear to provide further validation for the use of plasma renin activity measurement as a reflection of the concentration of circulating angiotensin II levels.


1975 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Armbruster ◽  
Wilhelm Vetter ◽  
Rainer Beckerhoff ◽  
Jürg Nussberger ◽  
Hans Vetter ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In order to investigate the role of renin secretion and of ACTH on the circadian rhythm of plasma aldosterone (PA), plasma renin activity (PRA), plasma cortisol (PC) and PA were determined at short-time intervals in 10 normal supine men. Six subjects were studied under a normal sodium intake and 4 under sodium restriction. In 4 subjects the secretion of ACTH was suppressed by dexamethasone. Under normal sodium intake changes in PA seemed to be more in parallel with changes in PC than by those in PRA as indicated by a higher significant correlation between PA and PC than between PA and PRA in 3 of the 4 subjects. In 1 subject no correlation was observed between PA and PC despite visual synchronism between the plasma concentrations of both hormones. Under dexamethasone medication fluctuations in PA were followed by those in PRA while PC was less than 2 μg/100 ml. In the sodium restricted state, changes in PA were closely paralleled and significantly correlated to PRA while no correlation was seen between PA and PC. Under dexamethasone medication the significant correlation between PA and PRA persisted. Our results indicate that in normal supine man the influence of ACTH and renin on PA may vary with different sodium intakes. Under normal sodium intake ACTH seems to be the dominant factor controlling PA, whereas under sodium restriction changes in PA are mediated through the renin angiotensin system. When the secretion of ACTH is suppressed by dexamethasone, renin controls PA both under normal and low sodium intake.


1980 ◽  
Vol 59 (s6) ◽  
pp. 149s-151s ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Taquini ◽  
A. Gallo ◽  
N. Basso ◽  
A. C. Taquini

1. Rats on normal sodium diet (group 1) and on chronically maintained low sodium diet (group 2) were studied during a control period, after clipping the renal artery (two-kidney, one-clip hypertension) and after nephrectomy (one-kidney, one-clip hypertension). 2. The low sodium diet neither prevented the development nor changed the severity of two-kidney, one-clip hypertension, and the latter was not accompanied by an increase in plasma renin activity. 3. After nephrectomy arterial pressure further increased and plasma renin activity decreased in group 1, and both remained unchanged in group 2. 4. Blood volume was the same in both groups 10 days before and 10 days after nephrectomy. 5. Sodium does not seem to be ‘necessary’ in the two-kidney, one-clip hypertension although it may play an enhancing role in the one-kidney model.


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