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)

Studies on the Kyoto (SHR) and the New Zealand (GHR) strains of genetically predisposed hypertensive rats have shown that in the SHR neurogenic influences, primarily of higher central origin, play an important role in the initiation of hypertension. Studies on human essential hypertension indicate that this may also be true for man, although it is far from being the sole explanation. Brookhaven hypertension-prone rats illustrate the interaction between genetic and exogenous factors since they require an overload of salt for the development of high blood pressure. The Milan hypertensive rats (MHS), on the other hand, illustrate a genetic deviation of renal function with imbalance between glomerular filtration and tubular resorption of sodium and water, which may simulate at least some variants of the relatively mild forms of low renin hypertension in man. Structural adaptive vascular changes have been demonstrated in SHR and GHR and in nongenetic renal hypertension in rats, and there are several indications of their presence in MHS. Thus, regardless of the nature of the initiating factors, these secondary but rapidly established changes occur and greatly contribute to the maintenance and acceleration of the hypertensive state. The vascular changes can even be regarded as a common denominator for chronic hypertension and serve as an element which, in fact, reinforces the initiating mechanisms. The progress of the vascular changes can be interfered with by reducing the pressure load. Lowering the blood pressure by pharmacologic treatment is most effective when the treatment is initiated as such an early age when the cardiovascular structural adaptation is still minimal. Treatment in later phases is less successful since the adaptive increases in cardiac and vessel wall thickness can then no longer be fully normalized by pressure reduction because of increased amounts of collagen and other connective tissue elements in the vessel wall, which regress poorly. An increased wall thickness of the resistance vessels implies a vascular hyperreactivity to constricting influences which, in turn, rapidly brings the blood pressure back to supranormal levels as soon as therapy is stopped.
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PMID:Mechanisms of spontaneous hypertension in rats. 32

Angiotensin II (ANG II) is the primary mediator of the renin-angiotensin system, which has an important functional role in cardiovascular homeostasis. The angiotensin receptor and its functional correlates have been redefined by the cloning of angiotensin receptors and the discovery and widespread study of specific nonpeptide ANG II-receptor antagonists losartan (AT1 selective) and PD123177 (AT2 selective). With these antagonists, it has been possible to extend the concept of ANG II-receptor heterogeneity to virtually every tissue and species. The losartan-sensitive sites have been shown to mediate all of the major ANG II-induced biologic effects, including vasoconstriction, aldosterone and catecholamine release, and central, ANG II-induced drinking behavior. The function of the AT2 site is not fully understood, but it may be involved in neuronal ion channel modulation and in fibroblast collagen metabolism. The presence of AT2 sites in fetal tissues and in discrete locations in the brain has encouraged continued research. Losartan, which represents the first of a new class of therapeutic agents, is currently undergoing clinical trials. A growing number of other AT1-selective ANG II-receptor antagonists are under development, including L-158,809, SKF 108566, and GR117285. Rat AT1-receptor subtypes have been cloned and sequenced (AT1A and AT1B). Human ANG II receptors have also been cloned and shown to have high affinity for losartan. A number of atypical angiotensin-binding sites have been identified from mycoplasma, amphibians, and mouse neuroblastoma, which are not sensitive to either losartan or PD123177.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Angiotensin II receptors and functional correlates. 129 Jun 17

The major risk factor associated with the appearance of adverse cardiovascular events and outcome attributable to cardiovascular disease is left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Why this should be so resides not in the increase in myocardial mass per se, but in the disruption of myocardial structure. An abnormal accumulation of fibrillar collagen within the adventitia of intramyocardial coronary arteries and neighboring interstitial spaces represents such a distortion in structure. Furthermore, this fibrosis disrupts the electrical and mechanical behavior of the hypertrophied myocardium. Mechanisms responsible for fibrillar collagen accumulation have been examined in intact animals and cultured cardiac fibroblasts. In vivo studies indicate that myocardial fibrosis is associated with the presence of chronic mineralocorticoid excess, relative to sodium intake and excretion, not hemodynamic workload. Accordingly, fibrosis can appear in both the hypertensive, hypertrophied and nonhypertensive, nonhypertrophied ventricles. In both primary and secondary hyperaldosteronism it was possible to prevent myocardial fibrosis with an aldosterone receptor antagonist, while in unilateral renal ischemia angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition was similarly cardioprotective. A regression in fibrous tissue and normalization of diastolic stiffness has also been possible using ACE inhibition, bringing forward the concept of cardioreparation and the notion that heart failure due to fibrosis may be reversible. In vitro studies indicate that effector hormones of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system stimulate fibroblast collagen synthesis. Aldosterone, in pathophysiologic concentrations, and angiotensin II, in much larger concentrations, each enhance collagen synthesis without altering the mitogenic potential of these cells. Thus, elevations in circulating aldosterone and angiotensin II, relative to sodium intake, have the potential to not only alter sodium homeostasis and vascular tonicity, but also the structure of cardiovascular tissue. Thus, myocardial fibrosis represents a structural basis for pathologic hypertrophy and ultimately accounts for the appearance of adverse cardiovascular events and outcomes.
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PMID:Pathologic hypertrophy with fibrosis: the structural basis for myocardial failure. 136 63

In both men and women left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is the major risk factor associated with the appearance of diastolic and/or systolic myocardial failure. It is not the growth of cardiac myocytes, however, that is responsible for an abnormal structural remodeling of the hypertrophied myocardium in pathologic LVH, but instead, nonmyocyte cells whose behavior and growth are altered by chronic elevations in circulating hormones. Hormone-mediated cardiac fibroblast proliferation and/or enhanced collagen synthesis, for example, account for myocardial fibrosis. The signals mediating nonmyocyte cell involvement in LVH may also involve locally generated hormones having paracrine properties. Herein we review experimental findings pertaining to the reparative and reactive fibrosis of the myocardium seen in various forms of acquired and genetic arterial hypertension, where circulating or tissue renin-angiotensin-aldosterone systems are respectively activated. These hormonal systems determine whether myocardial structure will be altered in arterial hypertension and, accordingly, if myocardial failure ensues. The mechanisms by which these hormones lead to myocardial fibrosis remain to be elucidated and correspondingly will determine if fibrosis can be effectively prevented. At the same time, experimental strategies that regress excess collagen in LVH have been identified, but need to be developed further to determine if myocardial failure, caused by fibrosis, is indeed reversible in humans.
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PMID:Myocardial fibrosis and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. 138 Jun 19

The relationship between experimental magnesium deficiency and blood pressure is complex and still the subject of much debate. The effect of Mg deficiency and blood pressure in Wistar rats receiving a Mg deficient diet (0.080 g/kg) for 40 weeks was examined. Deficient rats, when compared to controls, showed an initial transitory phase of hypotension, followed by normalization of blood pressure and then hypertension beginning after 15 weeks on the deficient diet. During the whole experimental period, heart rate was significantly increased in deficient rats as compared to controls. The fact that hypotension resulting from Mg deficiency of short duration can be inhibited by antihistamines and by indomethacin suggests that various mediators seen during the inflammatory period of Mg deficiency could be involved. Mg deficiency of long duration was accompanied by hypertension. When Mg-deficient rats received the control diet for a period of 3 weeks, Mg supplementation only partially corrected the hypertension. The hypertension was not a consequence of stimulation of the renin-angiotensin system since the plasma renin activity was not modified and ACE activity was reduced. These deficient rats showed a significantly lower vasopressor response to noradrenaline than control rats. Several factors such as increase in collagen, changes in elastin and arterial elasticity, total lipid content, and calcifications may account for the hyporesponsiveness to contractile agonists.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Magnesium and blood pressure. I. Animal studies. 139 7

The cardiac interstitium is composed of non-myocyte cells and a structural fibrillar protein network which plays a dominant role in governing the structure, architecture, and mechanical behaviour of the myocardium. Herein we review the fibrillar collagen network, its various components, and the functions they serve in the normal and structurally remodelled myocardium in arterial hypertension. The heterogeneity in myocardial structure, created by the altered behaviour of non-myocyte cells, particularly cardiac fibroblasts, which are responsible for collagen synthesis or degradation and thereby fibrous tissue accumulation, is a major determinant for the appearance of diastolic dysfunction and ultimately systolic myocardial failure. Regulatory mechanisms related to this fibrous tissue response are reviewed to draw attention to the hitherto neglected role of cardiac fibroblasts in mediating adverse structural remodelling of the myocardium and showing how this can be prevented through the use of pharmacological agents that interfere with the regulation of the myocardial collagen matrix. Several lines of evidence suggest that circulating and tissue renin-angiotensin-aldosterone systems (RAAS) are involved in the structural remodelling of the non-myocyte compartment. These include the cardioprotective effects of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition and aldosterone receptor antagonism that were found to prevent myocardial fibrosis in the rat with renovascular hypertension. In the rat with genetic hypertension, established left ventricular hypertrophy and abnormal myocardial diastolic stiffness due to interstitial fibrosis, RAAS inhibition resulted in restoration of myocardial structure and function to normal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Myocardial collagen matrix remodelling in arterial hypertension. 139 56

Diastolic dysfunction is often present in patients with arterial hypertension. It is not only the consequence of an increased left ventricular muscle mass but also due to a progressive fibrosis of the cardiac interstitium. Experimental studies have shown a close relationship between the degree of interstitial cardiac fibrosis and the activity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Reversal of collagen deposition can be induced by inhibition of the RAS. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of ACE inhibitors not only in lowering blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension, but also in normalizing an impaired diastolic filling pattern in the left ventricle. Monotherapy with a single dose of 2.5-5 mg Cilazapril for a period of 6 months was effective in reducing mean arterial blood pressure by about 10 mmHg over the entire 24-h interval. The main reduction occurred throughout the day, but lower blood pressure values during the night were hardly affected at all. The pre- and post-treatment values of the 24-h blood pressure were subjected to a modified Fourier analysis, which did not reveal any disturbances in the circadian blood pressure rhythm by the ACE inhibitor. Left ventricular mass, as calculated from echocardiographic measurements, was reduced by 30% after 6 months of treatment. The degree of regression of LV hypertrophy was closely related to the drug-induced fall in mean arterial pressure. The abnormal left ventricular filling pattern before treatment with a predominance of the late diastolic filling period was corrected by 6 months of ACE inhibitor treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Reparative effects of ACE inhibitors on the heart]. 153 2

Experimental myocardial infarction is a model of cardiac overload due to amputation of part of the cardiac muscle. The development of cardiac failure depends on the size of the infarct and the time factor. This model of overload is associated with changes of the phenotype of the remaining healthy muscle and with peripheral vascular modifications partially dependent of the activation of pressor and/or deactivation of dilator systems. These changes are proportional to the size of the infarction at a given time after induction of the model. The degree of right ventricular hypertrophy and the decrease in blood pressure reflect the severity of infarction and the deterioration of the remaining myocardial function, affecting the haemodynamics both before and after the left ventricle. The increases in the 1/3 forms of isomyosins, the amount of subendocardial collagen, the biosynthesis, stocking and secretion of ANF are related to the infarct size and degree of overload. Similarly, the concentration of cyclic GMP is proportional to the infarct size. These parameters reflect ventricular overload, the increase of stress and energy deprivation of the remaining healthy muscle. The activation of peripheral pressor systems is also dependent on the infarct size reflects the effect of cardiac pump dysfunction on the kidney, liver, brain and endothelium. Large infarcts are associated with increased circulating renin and renal concentrations, with a decrease in angiotensinogen levels related to its consumption by the renin and to reduced hepatic synthesis and also with increased secretion and biosynthesis of vasopressin by the hypothalamus. In this model, Perindopril is beneficial by decreasing the cardiac load. It reduces the blood pressure, causes regression of bi-auricular and right ventricular hypertrophy. Changes in myosin isoenzyme configuration regress and subendocardial fibrosis and ANF concentrations are normalised. The effects of ACE inhibitors in this context, though very beneficial, are limited by the impossibility of normalising cardiac load and stress when the initial amputation of cardiac contractile mass exceeds 40%.
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PMID:[Experimental myocardial infarction in the rat. Effect of perindopril]. 166 27

The myocardium contains myocyte and non-myocyte cells. A disproportionate growth of the nonmyocyte cell population can alter myocardial structure and lead to pathologic hypertrophy. Myocardial fibrosis, the result of cardiac fibroblast growth or abnormal accumulation of fibrillar collagen within the interstitial space, can adversely influence myocardial stiffness and ultimately ventricular function. We have examined the relative importance of ventricular systolic and arterial pressures and the effector hormones of the renin-angiotensin--aldosterone system in mediating this reactive fibrous tissue response in the hypertensive left and normotensive right ventricles in various experimental models of arterial hypertension. To date, our findings implicate arterial hypertension, together with an elevation in plasma aldosterone, as being contributory to the fibrosis in renovascular hypertension that creates tissue heterogeneity in either ventricle and impaired diastolic function. The endocrine properties of aldosterone in this nonclassical mineralocorticoid target tissue, the myocardium, requires further investigation.
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PMID:Myocardial fibrosis: role of ventricular systolic pressure, arterial hypertension, and circulating hormones. 178 67

A case of polyarteritis nodosa (PN) in childhood involving various organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, skin, CNS, kidneys and liver with hypogammaglobulinemia is reported. This 6 month old girl was admitted to our hospital with vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stools with mucous and weight loss. For the past 5 months she had these abdominal symptoms. She was diagnosed as having PN of the Kussmaul-Maier variety on the grounds of the biopsy of skin lesion where a necrotizing vasculitis was found. Prednisolone and methylprednisolone pulse treatment were not effective in suppressing the progress of the disease. At the age of 1 year 7 month a combination therapy of prednisolone and immunosuppressants (cyclophosphamide) was started and this was found to be effective. She was discharged when she was 2 year and 2 month. The dosage of prednisolone was tapered as the activity of the PN decreased and she did well with a maintainance dosage of 9.5 mg/day. At 3 year 6 month of age she suddenly developed hypertension (the plasma renin activity was found to be 16.6 ng/m/hr. and the aldosterone 220 ng/dl). CNS involvement such as spinal cord dysfunction, left sided convulsions, cerebral hemorrhage developed 5 months later. Methylprednisolone pulse therapy was performed 3 times and 2 mg/kg/day of prednisolone was administered. In spite of this therapy she passed away with a massive cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 4 year 8 month. Unfortunately an autopsy was not performed. Results of the immunological tests proved that the hypogammaglobulinemia was a common variable immunodeficiency (CVI). It has been reported that primary immuno-deficiency syndrome is often associated with collagen disease and auto-immune disease. This lack of the defense mechanism against the virus or extra antigen could be related to the onset of collagen and auto-immune disease. As the correlation between CVI and PN has not been clarified this case is of interest as concerns the cause of PN.
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PMID:[A case of hypogammaglobulinemia associated with polyarteritis nodosa presenting a variety of symptoms in childhood]. 197 16


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