Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0730345 (microalbuminuria)
 4,018 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Renin plays a major role in the control of blood pressure and water and electrolyte metabolism and it is clear that blocking of this system is particularly effective in the treatment of essential hypertension and heart failure. A large number of converting enzyme inhibitors have been synthesized. Converting enzyme inhibitors are remarkably active in heart failure and they reduce microalbuminuria and possibly maintain glomerular function. Blocking of the renin-angiotensin system by converting enzyme inhibitors is not accompanied by hypotension or reflex stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. Converting enzyme inhibitors represent a major therapeutic advance in the field of cardiovascular and renal disease but the long-term effects of decreased angiotensin II levels are unknown. There are other ways to inhibit the renin-angiotensin system. The recent discovery of orally-active non-peptide angiotensin II antagonists opens a range of fascinating prospects. Another approach consists in inhibiting the reaction of renin on angiotensinogen, which is remarkably selective. Although it is too early to know whether these new approaches will be less active, more active or as active as current converting enzyme inhibitors, they may constitute a progress in relation to currently available treatments.
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PMID:New therapeutic prospects of renin-angiotensin system inhibition. 269 Nov 25

Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States, and accounts for 35% of all the patients with ESRD entering a dialysis program; 63% of patients with diabetic nephropathy have type II diabetes mellitus. Hypertension is a major risk factor for renal disease and is common in people with diabetes mellitus. Strategies for preventing the progression of renal failure in patients with diabetes mellitus include glycemic control, and control of blood pressure. Blocking the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) slows the progression of established diabetic nephropathy in type I diabetes mellitus, and inhibiting angiotensin II formation retards or impedes the progression from microalbuminuria to established diabetic nephropathy (macroproteinuria) in people with type I diabetes mellitus. The situation could be the same for people with type II diabetes mellitus. The ability of RAS blockade using irbesartan, an AT1 angiotensin II receptor antagonist, to slow the progression in renal failure has been compared with that of the calcium channel blocker amlodipine and placebo in a pilot study. The results suggest that blockade of the RAS, in this case with irbesartan, is at least equivalent to calcium channel blockers with respect to antihypertensive efficacy, but provides better renoprotective benefits.
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PMID:Renoprotection and renin-angiotensin system blockade in diabetes mellitus. 943 77