Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.23.15 (renin)
 35,795 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Plasma renin activity (PRA), and concentrations of aldosterone (PAL) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) in plasma were determined in 15 patients with ascites due to cirrhosis. The concentrations in ascites were analyzed simultaneously. Six patients were studied during extracorporeal ascites retransfusion. All but one patient with ascites showed elevated PAL (642 +/- 255 pg ml-1) and PRA (43 +/- 26 ng ml-1 h-1); all had increased AVP (7.3 +/- 5.1 pg ml-1). A low ascites to plasma ratio was found for aldosterone (0.023 +/- 0.023), but not for AVP (0.71 +/- 0.82). Retransfusion resulted in a normalization of central venous pressure (CVP), urinary volume, sodium/potassium ratio in urine, PAL and PRA, but not of AVP, serum sodium concentration and urinary sodium excretion. PRA and PAL increased again after cessation of treatment, while urinary output, CVP and sodium/potassium ratio in urine decreased. The results support the 'underfilling' concept, but give evidence that, in addition, other factors must be involved in the impaired natriuresis in cirrhotic patients. They further support the concept of volume expansion and increased renal perfusion as reason for the therapeutic efficacy of ascites retransfusion. Previous diuretic treatment seems not to be of importance for altered hormone metabolism in liver cirrhosis. Storage in a third compartment may be a factor in the persistently elevated AVP levels.
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PMID:Renin, aldosterone and arginine vasopressin in patients with liver cirrhosis: the influence of ascites retransfusion. 308 6

Wider application of the aldosterone/plasma renin activity ratio among hypertensives has facilitated the detection of primary aldosteronism at earlier stages of evolution (with most patients normokalemic), and found prevalence rates far greater than those previously reported. Reliable detection of patients with PAL requires that 1) the diagnosis is considered in all hypertensives; 2) blood samples are collected under standardized conditions of diet, posture, and time of day; 3) medications known to alter the ratio are avoided or their effects taken into account; 4) aldosterone and plasma renin activity are measured using consistently accurate assay techniques; and 5) reliable methods (such as fludrocortisone suppression testing) are used to confirm primary aldosteronism. Adrenal venous sampling is the only dependable way to differentiate aldosterone-producing adenoma from bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. As has occurred in familial hyperaldosteronism type I, the elucidation of genetic mutations causing other forms of primary aldosteronism should further facilitate detection of this potentially curable or specifically treatable variety of hypertension.
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PMID:Primary aldosteronism: rare bird or common cause of secondary hypertension? 1135 74

Recent studies demonstrate that presenilins (PSs) and signal peptide peptidase (SPP) are members of a novel protease family of integral membrane proteins that may utilize a catalytic mechanism similar to classic aspartic proteases such as pepsin, renin and cathepsin D. The defining features of the PSs and SPP are their ability to cleave substrate polypeptides within a transmembrane region, the presence of two active site aspartate residues in adjacent membrane-spanning regions and a conserved PAL motif near their COOH-terminus. PSs appear to be the catalytic subunit of multiprotein complexes that possess gamma-secretase activity. Because this activity generates the amyloid beta peptide (Abeta) deposited in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), PSs are considered therapeutic targets in AD. In contrast to PSs that are not active unless part of a larger complex, SPP does not appear to require protein co-factors. Because of its requirement for hepatitis C virus maturation and a possible immune modulatory role, SPP is also considered a potential therapeutic target. Four additional PS/SPP homologs have been identified in humans; yet, their functions have not been elucidated. Herein, we will review the recent advances in our understanding of the PS/SPP family of proteases as well as discuss aspects of intramembrane cleavage that are not well understood.
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PMID:Intramembrane-cleaving aspartic proteases and disease: presenilins, signal peptide peptidase and their homologs. 1296 28

The state of the renin-aldosterone system in 100 patients with hypertonic form of chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) with the preserved renal function was assessed by RIA. The control group comprised 35 patients with CGH without arterial hypertension (AH). The study showed that plasma active renin (PAR) and aldosterone (PAL) levels remained unaltered in normotensive CGN patients with the preserved renal function but tended to increase in patients with AH. PAR levels correlated with the severity of AH. The PAL level was significantly elevated in CGN patients with grade II and III AH. Results of the study suggest an important role of elevated PAR levels in the development of AH in patients with CGN and preserved renal function. Moreover, such patients show a tendency toward a rise in their PAL level.
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PMID:[Renin-aldosterone system in patients with hypertensive form of chronic glomerulonephritis and preserved renal function]. 1982 34