ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the actions of Ang II on female reproductive organs and describes renin-angiotensin system activity in male reproductive organs. Angiotensin II (Ang II) actions upon the ovary were predicated on the fact that Ang II acted on the vasculature to promote angiogenesis. A hypothesis that unifies the disparate observations of A.I. Daud et al. and A. Pellicer et al. is that Ang II may be capable of rescuing atretic follicles and returning them to a preovulatory state. The uterus has long been known to contract in response to Ang II; however, it is also a source of components of the renin-angiotensin system. Granulosa cells of gonadotropin-stimulated human ovaries also display Ang II-like immunoreactivity. The specificity of this effect was demonstrated by the inability of SI Ang II to inhibit ovulation when administered more than 3 h after human chorionic gonadotropin or when given together with Ang II.
