ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION In 1898, Tieger tedt and Berman prepared a protein extract of rabbit kidney. When it wa injected into other anjmal , the extract elevated blood pre ure. The active agent wa named renin . Other group had difficulty reproducing thi experiment and the finding of Tiegerstedt and Berman remained unappreciated until the l 930 , when Goldblatt et a/. ( 1934) de cribed an elevation of blood pressure a sociated with re triction of renal artery flow. Their ob ervation lajd the groundwork for the modem inve tigation of the renin-angiotensin-aldo terone y tern. We now know that renin and angioten in-converting enzyme (ACE) are re pon ible for the equential degradation of angioten inogen into the effector peptide, angioten in II (Ang ll). Thj , in tum, induce it effect by bindjng to high-affinity cell urface receptor . The many known action of Ang II include va cular mooth mu cle con triction , the timulation of alt and water reab orption by the gut and kidney, the timulation of aldo terone ynthe i and ecretion by the adrenal, glycogenoly i and gluconeogene i by the liver, the timulation of thir t, and the potentiation of ympathetic activation leading to increased cardiac contractility. The net effect i to elevate intrava cular volume, to increase peripheral va cular re i tance and to rai e
Address for correspondence: Kenneth E. Bernstein, M.D. , Professor, Department of Pathology, Rm. 7107A WMB, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. Tel: (404)-727-3134. Fax: (404)-727-8540. Email: kbernst@emory.edu
blood pressure. Recent tudy uggest that Ang II may at o induce cell hypertrophy and/or cellular hyperpla ia. How Ang II induce the e growth factor-like effect i the ubject of inten e ongoing inve tigation. Finally, a variety of tudies di cu ed below uggest that the renin-angioten in ystem (RAS) may play a role in male reproductive
function . Thus, the modern view of the renin-angiotensin-aldo terone system i as a central player in the regulation of blood pressure and as a participant in other important function uch a va cular remodeling and proper male germ cell function.
